582 MANUAL OP PHILIPPINE BIRDS. 



Genus MEGALURUS Horsfield, 1821. 



Bill small and slender, culmen gently curved ; bill from nostril a little 

 less than hind toe without claw; rictal bristles few and small; first 

 primary more than one-half second, the latter considerably exceeded by 

 third; fifth and sixth equal and longest; rectrices long, pointed, and 

 much graduated, the inner ones usually considerably abraded ; tail much 

 longer than wing ; tarsus long and heavy ; toes short ; tarsus about two- 

 fifths of wing. 



Species. 



a*. Much larger; wing, about 100 mm.; tarsus, about 38; top of head earthy brown. 



palnstris (p. 582) 



a*. Much smaller ; wing, about 70 mm. ; tarsus, about 28 ; top of head rusty brown. 



tweeddalei (p. 583) 



566. MEGALURUS PALUSTRIS Horsfield. 

 STRIATED MARSH WARBLER. 



Megalurus palustris HORSFIELD, Trans. Linn. Soc. (1820), 13, 159; SHABPE, 

 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1881), 7, 123; Hand-List (1903), 4, 202; GATES, 

 Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1889), 1, 383, fig. 122 (head); WHITEHEAD, 

 Ibis (1899), 219 (habits); GATES and REID, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1905), 

 4, 199; MCGREGOR and WORCESTER, Hand-List (1906), 89. 



Su-n6d ca-la-bao, Manila. 



Bohol (McGregor) ; Catanduanes ( Whit ehead ) ; Luzon (Cuming, Kittlitz, 

 Everett, Steere Exp., Whitehead, Bourns d Worcester, McGregor, Bartsch) ; Ma- 

 rinduque (Steere Exp.) ; Masbate (Bourns d Worcester) ; Mindanao ( M earns ) ; 

 Mindoro (Steere Exp., Everett, Schmacker, Bourns d Worcester, McGregor) ; 

 Samar (Steere Exp.) ; Ticao (McGregor). Manipur, Burmese provinces, south- 

 eastern New Guinea, northern and central India to Bhutun and Buxa Doars, 

 Assam, Java. 



Adult. Above sandy buff; back heavily streaked with black; top of 

 head and tail-coverts faintly streaked with brown; superciliary line 

 white; ear-coverts and space behind eye sandy brown; lores and cheeks 

 whitish; under parts white; sides of breast, flanks, thighs, and crissum 

 washed with buff ; lower throat, sides, and crissum with dark brown shaft- 

 lines; wing-feathers blackish, edged with pale sandy buff; basal portion 

 of primaries and secondaries edged with light rusty buff ; rectrices brown, 

 edged with lighter brown. Iris brown; upper mandible brown, lower 

 mandible horn-blue; legs and feet brown. In worn plumage the upper 

 parts appear much blacker and the shaft-streaks on under parts are more 

 prominent. A male from LuEon measures : Wing, 100 ; tail, 142 ; culmen 

 from base, 18; jpill from nostril, 12; tarsus, 36. A female in worn 

 plumage, wing, 85 ; tail, 113 ; culmen from base, 18 ; bill from nostril, 11 ; 

 tarsus, 33. 



Young. Immature birds are distinguished by having sides of head 

 and under parts washed with pale lemon-yellow. In Benguet Province, 

 Luzon, this species was found breeding during April and May. 



