582 MANUAL OF PHILIPPINE BIRDS. 



Genus MEGALUEUS Horsfield, 1821. 



Bill small and slender, culmen gently curved; bill from nostril a little 

 less than hind toe without claw; rictal bristles few and small; first 

 primary more than one-half second, the latter considerably exceeded by 

 third; fifth and sixth equal and longest; rectrices long, pointed, and 

 much graduated, the inner ones usually considerably abraded; tail much 

 longer than wing ; tarsus long and heavy ; toes short ; tarsus about two- 

 fifths of wing. 



Species. 



a'. Much larger; wing, about 100 mm.; tarsus, about 38; top of head earthy brown. 



palustris (p. 582) 

 a'. Much smaller ; wing, about 70 mm. ; tarsus, about 28 ; top of head rusty brown. 



tweeddalei (p. 583) 



566. MEGALURUS PALUSTRIS Horsfield. 



STRIATED MARSH WARBLER. 



Megalurus palustris Horsfield, Trans. Linn. Soc. (1820), 13, 159; Sharpe, 

 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1881), 7, 123; Hand-List (1903), 4, 202; Gates, 

 Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1889), 1, 383, fig. 122 (head); Whitehead, 

 Ibis (1899), 219 (habits); Gates and Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1905), 

 4, 199; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 89. 



Su-nod ca-la-hao, Manila. 



Bohol (McGregor); Catanduanes (Whitehead); Luzon (Cuming, Kittlitz, 

 Everett, Steere Exp., Whitehead, Boilf-ns <& Worcester, McGregor, Bartsch) ; Ma- 

 rinduque (Steere Exp.) ; Masbate (Bourns <£ Worcester); Mindanao (M earns); 

 Mindoro (Steere Exp., Everett, Schmacker, Bourns d Worcester, McGregor) ; 

 Samar (Steere Exp.); Ticao (McGregor) . Manipur, Burmese provinces, south- 

 eastern New Guinea, northern and central India to Bhutun and Buxa Doars, 

 Assam, Java. 



Adult. — Above sandy buff; back heavily streaked with black; top of 

 head and tail-coverts faintly streaked with brown; superciliary line 

 white; ear-coverts and space behind eye sandy brown; lores and cheeks 

 whitish; under parts white; sides of breast, flanks, thighs, and crissura 

 washed with buff; lower throat, sides, and crissum with dark brown shaft- 

 lines; wing-feathers blackish, edged with pale sandy buff; basal portion 

 of primaries and secondaries edged with light rusty buff ; rectrices brown, 

 edged with lighter brown. Iris brown; upper mandible brown, lower 

 mandible horn-blue; legs and feet brown. In worn plumage the upper 

 parts appear much blacker and the shaft-streaks on under parts are more 

 prominent. A male from Luzon measures : Wing, 100 ; tail, 142 ; culmen 

 from base, 18; bill from nostril, 12; tarsus, 36. A female in worn 

 plumage, wing, 85 ; tail, 113 ; culmen from base, 18 ; bill from nostril, 11 ; 

 tarsus, 33. 



Young. — Immature birds are distinguished by having sides of head 

 and under parts washed with pale lemon-yellow. In Benguet Province, 

 Luzon, this species was found breeding during April and May. 



