MEGALURUS. 583 



"The striated marsh warbler is found about the open fields. It runs 

 rapidly on the ground and skulks in bamboo thickets and patches of tall 

 grass and weeds. It soars and attempts to sing while on the wing; also 

 perches at the very top of bamboo clumps, and 'sings' vigorously.-" 

 {Bourns and Worcester MS.) 



567. MEGALURUS TWEEDDALEI McGregor. 

 TWEEDDALE'S MARSH WARBLER. 



Megalurus ruficeps, not Megalurus ? ruficcps Sykes, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1832), 

 91, TwEEDDALE, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (1877), 20, 95; Proc. Zool. 

 Soc. (1877), G95, pi. 72; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1881), 7, 125; 

 Hand-List (1903), 4, 202; Geant and Whitehead, Ibis (1898), 240, 

 pi. 5, fig. 7 (eggs); Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 219 (habits); Gates 

 and Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1905), 4, 200, pi. 9, fig. 19; McGbegob 

 and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 89. 



Megalurus tweeddalei McGbegob, Phil. Jour. Sci. (1908), 3, sec. A, 283. 



Banton (Celestino) ; Basilan (Everett, Bourns & Vforcester) ; Bohol (Steere 

 Exp., McGregor) ; Cebu (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor) ; 

 Guimaras (Steere Exp.); Lubang (McGregor) ; Luzon (Everett, Whitehead, Mc- 

 Gregor); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Masbate (McGregor) ; Mindanao (Platen, 

 Goodfellow, Celestino) ; Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor) ; Negroa 

 (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, Keay, Celestino) ; Panay 

 (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester) ; Romblon (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor) ; 

 Samar (Whitehead); Sibuyan (McGregor); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester); 

 Tablas (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor). 



Adult. — Entire top of head rufous-brown; sides of neck and back 

 olive-gray, the latter heavily streaked with blackish brown; lower back 

 and rump olive-brown; tail-coverts olive-gray with narrow brown shaft- 

 lines; lores, superciliary line, cheeks, and ear-coverts ashy gray; a rufous 

 line behind eye ; under parts whitish ; sides ashy gray, flanks browner ; 

 thighs and crissum buff; wings and tail brown with lighter brown edges. 

 A male from Mindanao measures : Wing, 69 ; tail, 107 ; culmen from 

 base, 17 ; bill from nostril, 9 ; tarsus, 28. A female from Luzon, wing, 

 6G; tail, 114; culmen from base, 15; bill from nostril, 9; tarsus, 27. 



"Five males average: Length, 225; wing, 71; tail, 109; culmen, 18.5; 

 tarsus, 27.6; middle toe with claw, 28. Five females, length, 211; 

 wing, 68; tail, 10-1; culmen, 18.5; tarsus, 27.6; middle toe with claw, 28. 

 Iris brown; legs and feet light brown." {Bourns and Worcester MS.) 



Three eggs of Tweeddale's marsh warbler, collected by Steere in Marin- 

 duque, May 8, 1888, are thus described : "Shape ovate. Ground-color 

 very pale pinkish white, sparingly marked all over with small blotches 

 and minute dots of light red and pale violet-gray under-markings, the 

 latter forming a more or less distinct zone round the larger pole. 

 Measurements 21 mm. by 16 mm. Nest of the bulbul type, lined with 

 fine wiry grasses and fiber." {Grant and Whitehead.) 



