BRACHYPTEEYX. 541 



mindanensis; coloration very dark; russet, of front of head intensified to 

 almost a burnt umber, and not extending backward beyond the eyes; 

 edge and lining of wings, slate-color, instead of rusty. 



"Adult male * * *. Uniformly slate-black, becoming practically 

 black on - the whole head, except a minute and wholly concealed supra- 

 orbital white spot. Iris dark reddish brown; bill all jet-black; feet and 

 claws plumbeous-black (from fresh specimen). 



"Adult female (type). Front of the head back to the eyes rusty 

 burnt umber, with eye-ring of same color; hind half of head, neck all 

 round, and all of body except abdomen, blackish slate; abdomen washed 

 with brownish gray; wings and tail brownish black, washed with slate- 

 color; edge and lining of wings slate-color, not russet. The colors of 

 the iris, bill, and feet were noted as exactly like those of the male topo- 

 type. 



"Measurements. Adult male * * *: Total length, 160; alar 

 expanse, 222; wing, 70; tail, 60; culmen (chord), 14.5; bill from nostril, 

 9; tarsus, 32; middle toe with claw, 24. Adult female (type) : Total 

 length, 148; alar expanse, 213; wing, 66; tail, 53; culmen (chord), 13; 

 bill from nostril, 8.5 ; tarsus, 34 ; middle toe with claw, 24.5." (Mearns.) 



Family TURDID.ZE. 



Bill slender ; moderate to small in size ; culmen curved near the tip ; a 

 slight notch in the cutting edge. of bill; bristles about the bill usually 

 reduced; wing flat and pointed; first primary not more than one-half 

 of second, and often much less; tarsi and feet moderate to large, the 

 former entire in front except for the lower part; young in first plumage 

 spotted.* 



Subfamilies. 



a 1 . Much larger; wing, 100 mm. or more; tail square or slightly rounded. 



Turdinae (p. 541) 



a 2 . Much smaller; wing, 95 mm. or less, usually much less; tail rounded, or 

 rectrices slightly graduated. 



ft 1 . Upper tail-coverts black, brown, or gray Ruticillinae (p. 556) 



ft 2 . Upper tail-coverts white Saxicolinae (p. 564) 



Subfamily TURDIN^E. 



Birds of this subfamily are nearly all much larger than any of the 

 RuticillincB or Saxicolince. The wing is long, pointed, and flat, the first 

 primary very short; tail nearly square; plumage uniform, spotted, or 

 bicolored; habits either arboreal or terrestrial. 



* For detailed characters of the Turdidce the reader is referred to Seebohm, 

 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1881), 5, 2; and to Birds of North and Middle America, 

 Bull. U. 8. Nat. Mus. Washington (1907), 50, pt. 4, 1 to 4. 

 83286 9 



