406 . MANUAL OP PHILIPPINE BIRDS. 



372. THRIPONAX JAVENSIS (Horsfield). 

 MALAY BLACK WOODPECKER. 



Picus javcnsw HOESFIELD, Trans. Linn. Soc. (1821), 13, pt. 1, 175. 

 Thriponcuo javensis HABGITT, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1890), 18, 498 (part) ; 



GRANT, Ibis (1894), 409; SHARPE, Hand-List (1900), 2, 231 (part); 



MCGREGOR and WORCESTER, Hand-List (1906), 66 (part).* 



Thripoiwuc javensis var. suluensis BLASIUS, Jour, ftir Ornith. (1890), 140. 



Tul-tu-lan, Benguet. 



Bongao (Everett)-, Cebn (Bourns d Worcester, McGregor) ; Luzon (Meyer, 

 Everett, Heriot, Whitehead, McGregor) ; Mindanao (Koch & Schadenberg, Steere, 

 Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns d Worcester, Goodfellow) ; Sulu (Platen, Bourns 

 d Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns d Worcester, Everett). Malay Peninsula, 

 southern Tenasserim, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Banka. 



Adult male. Nasal tufts black; forehead, crown, occipital crest, and 

 malar stripe bright scarlet; feathers of forehead and crown with white 

 bases ; feathers of crest with white bases ; remainder of head, chin, throat, 

 breast, and entire upper parts black ; feathers of lower back with concealed 

 white or gray bases; a few narrow white stripes on throat and behind 

 ear-coverts; abdomen arid flanks pale yellow or buffy white; thighs black, 

 some of the feathers with pale buff edges ; under tail-coverts black ; wings 

 and tail black; three or four primaries white at base of inner web; 

 secondaries with considerable white on inner webs. Length, about 435; 

 wing, 210; tail, 170; culmen from base, 53; bill from nostril, 41; width 

 of bill at gape, 19 ; tarsus, 32. 



Adult female. Similar to the male but the forehead, crown, and malar 

 region black, occipital crest alone being red. These sexual differences 

 are found in all the Philippine species of the genus. Wing, 200; tail, 

 160; culmen from base, 47; bill from nostril, 38; width of bill at gape, 

 18; tarsus, 31. 



Here described from Luzon specimens. An adult male from Trong, 

 lower Siam, differs only in having a slightly larger bill and longer wing. 



Young birds have the abdomen white, and the malar stripe entirely 

 black or with a few red spots. 



"If the Luzon record of this species is correct, and we can see no reason 

 for doubting it, the distribution of T. javensis within the Philippines is 

 very peculiar. Why should it disappear in Samar and Leyte, to reappear 

 in Cebu and Luzon? There is not the slightest doubt as to the identity 

 of the Cebu birds, of which we have a fine series. 



"Three males from Sulu average, 400 in length ; wing, 185 ; tail, 146 ; 



* Cf. references to Clarke under Thriponax hargitti. 



