ZOSTERORNIS. 531 



shaft-stripes ; lores, ear-coverts, and cheeks ashy with whitish shaft- 

 stripes; chin and throat chestnut, washed with light yellow; remainder 

 of under parts very pale yellow ; sides and flanks gray ; wings brown, the 

 outer webs edged with lighter brown, inner webs edged with white; 

 rectrices brown, all but the middle pair tipped with white which in- 

 creases on each pair toward the outermost, the outer webs of which are 

 entirely white. A male from Mindanao measures: Length, 147; wing, 

 69 ; tail, 60 ; culmen from base, 16 ; bill from nostril, 10 ; tarsus, 18. A 

 female, wing, 67 ; tail, 60 ; culmen from base, 15 ; bill from nostril, 9.5 ; 

 tarsus, 18.5. 



"Not uncommon in the deep forest of Basilan, where it is usually 

 found in company with Macronous, Hypothymis, and other birds. Seven- 

 teen males average : Length, 143 ; wing, 67 ; tail, 61 ; culmen, 18 ; tarsus, 

 17; middle toe with claw, 16. Eleven females, length, 141; wing, 67; 

 tail, 60 ; tarsus, 18 ; middle toe with claw, 16 ; culmen, 16. Iris reddish 

 brown; legs and feet drab, with a greenish tinge; feet and nails yellow- 

 ish; bill almost black." (Bourns and Worcester MS.) 



511. ZOSTERORNIS NIGROCAPITATUS (Steere). 

 BLACK-CROWNED TREE BABBLER. 



Mixornis nigrocapitatus STEERE, List Birds and Mams. Steere Exped. 



(1890), 17. 

 Zosterornis nigrocapitatus GRANT, Ibis (1897), 232; WHITEHEAD, Ibis 



(1899), 223 (habits). 

 Zosterornis nigrocapitata SHARPE, Hand-List (1903), 4, 51; MCGREGOR 



and WORCESTER, Hand-List (1906), 82 (part). 



Bohol (McGregor) ; Leyte (Steere Exp., Wkitehead) ; Samar (Steere Exp., 

 Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead) . 



Adult (male and female). Forehead, lores, and crown black, on each 

 side behind eye a small patch of dark chestnut ; remainder of upper parts 

 ashy gray with lighter shaft-stripes; tail-coverts slightly olivaceous; 

 ear-coverts and sides of head and neck like the back; chin and throat clear 

 saffron-yellow, extending faintly onto fore breast; a short stripe of dark 

 chestnut on each side of throat ; middle of lower breast and abdomen and 

 tail-coverts white; sides, flanks, and thighs gray; quills brown, externally 

 edged with dull olivaceous, internally with white; median and lesser 

 coverts like the back ; rectrices brown, all but the middle pair tipped with 

 white which increases on each pair toward the outermost, the outer 

 webs of which are entirely white. Length, about 145. A male from 

 Bohol measures: Wing, 68; tail, 62; culmen from base, 14.5; bill from 

 nostril, 9; tarsus, 17. A female, wing, 65.5; tail, 59; culmen from base, 

 15; bill from nostril, 9.5; tarsus, 17. 



"Professor Steere originally described this bird as a Mixornis, but the 

 structure of the nasal opening, as well as the shape of the wing, claarly 



