644 MANUAL OF PHILIPPINE BIRDS. 



653. /ETHOPYGA MAGNIFICA Sharpe. 



MAGNIFICENT SUNBIRD. 



Mthopyga magnifica Sharpe, Nature (1876), 14, 297; Trans. Linn. Soc. 2d. 

 ser. Zool. (1877), 1, 342; Shelley, Monogr. Nectarin. pt. 3 (1877), 51, 

 pi. 17; Gadow, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1884), 9, 24; Grant and 

 Whitehead, Ibis (1898), 241, pi. 5, figs. 5 & 6 (eggs) ; Whitehead, Ibis 

 (1899), 229 (nest) ; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 98. 



Cebu {Everett, Bourns d Worcester, McGregor) ; Negros (Steere, Everett, 

 Steere Exp., Bourns d Worcester, Whitehead, Celestino) ; Panay (Bourns & Wor- 

 cester) ; Sibuyan (Bourns d Worcester, McGregor) ; Tablas (Bourns d Worcester, 

 Celestino) . 



Male. — Forehead and malar stripe metallic, dark royal purple; re- 

 mainder of head, entire neck, and mantle bright poppy-red ; chin, throat, 

 and breast scarlet-vermilion, the basal and central parts of the feathers 

 pale yellow; back and rump black with a median more or less concealed 

 patch of gamboge-yellow; tail and coverts metallic royal purple; wings, 

 lower breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts dead black; axillars and 

 wing-lining black; lesser and median wing-coverts red, and some of the 

 greater coverts narrowly edged with red. A male from Cebu measures: 

 Wing, 59; tail, 49; culmen from base, 24; bill from nostril, 19; tarsus, 

 16. Upper mandible brown, lower mandible reddish flesh; legs and 

 nails dark brown. 



Female. — Dull green with a slight reddish wash across the back ; wing- 

 feathers and rectrices blackish brown, the latter edged with dark crimson ; 

 wing-feathers and rump more faintly washed with crimson. A female 

 from Cebu, wing, 5C; tail, 43; culmen from base, 22; bill from nostril, 

 18; tarsus, 15. 



Young birds resemble the adult female, but the young males early 

 show indications of the red throat and breast and of the black abdomen. 



"Eight males from Negros average: Length, 133; wing, 57.6; tail, 

 47.4; culmen, 25; tarsus, 15; middle toe with claw, 15. Three females 

 from Cebu measure: Length, 125; wing, 55 ; tail, 41 ; culmen, 25 ; tarsus, 

 16; middle toe with claw, 16. Nine males from Sibuyan average: 

 Length, 137; wing, 61; tail*, 51; culmen, 25; tarsus, 16; middle toe 

 with claw, 16. 



"It will be seen that the Sibuyan birds belong to a larger race, but 

 we do not think they can be specifically separated. Breeding in the 

 month of June in Cebu. Native name in Negros 'a-na-nag-bac' Sliot 

 in Sibuyan 1,100 meters above sea-level." (Bourns and Worcester MS.) 



Two eggs of the magnificent sunbird collected by Steere in Negros, 

 February, 1888, and three eggs collected at the base of Canlaon Volcano 

 by Whitehead, March 23, 1896, are described as follows: 



"Shape ovate. Ground-color pale terra-cotta red, very thickly mottled 

 all over with a darker tint of the same color, the mottlings heaviest at 



