﻿DESCRIPTIONS OF A NEW GENUS, ETC. 359 



Adtilt female: Length, 210; wing, 117; tail, 99; culmen, 20.5; bill from nostril, 

 13 ; tarsus, 33 ; middle toe with its claw, 32. 



Remarks. — This form is very closely related to' Merula thomassoni Grant, from 

 the Province of Benguet, in the highlands of Luzon, but is smaller, 8 adult male 

 topotypes averaging: Length, 225; wing, 121; tail, 102; culmen (chord), 23.2; 

 bill from anterior margin of nostril, 14.7; tarsus, 33; middle toe with its claw 

 (about), 32. As lateral measurements of the bill are the same as those of 

 Merula thomassoni, and the length of the latter's bill is 1.7 millimeters greater 

 than that of Merula mayonensis, the bill has the appearance of being stouter. 

 The series of topotypes of Merula thomassoni with which comparison has been 

 made was taken at the same season ( May 8 to June 7 ) . 



Key to the Philippine species of Merula. 



[Based on adult males.] 



a. Wing less than 115 millimeters; sides of lower breast and flanks chestnut. 



Merula mindorensis ( Grant ) . 



aa. Wing more than 115 millimeters; sides of lower breast and flanks not chestnut. 



b. Chest, head and neck all round nearly uniform broccoli-brown (slightly 



darkest on crown ) . • 



c. Wing about 120 millimeters; body uniformly blackish; under tail-coverts 



longitudinally striped with white. 



d. Larger; length, 225; wing, 121; bill from nostril, 14.7; body dark brown. 



Merula thomassoni Seebohm. 

 dd. Smaller; length, 215; wing, 120; bill from nostril, 13; body practically 



black Merula mayonensis, new species. 



cc. Wing less than 120 millimeters; body, including tail-coverts and crissum, 



uniformly clove-brown Merula kelleri Mearns. 



bb. Chest paler, contrasting strongly with the dark color of crown. 



e. Smaller (wing, 124.5 millimeters; tail, 96.5 millimeters) ; chin, throat 

 and chest pale sooty-brown, rather lighter on breast, flanks, and belly ; 

 median area of under surface dark, except at vent ; under tail- 

 coverts dark brown, with pale, whitish, brown tips. 



Merula nigrorum (Grant). 

 ee. Larger (wing, 127 millimeters; tail, 115 millimeters); chin, throat, 

 and chest pale drab-gray ; flanks and breast similar in color to the 

 upper surface of body; median area of under surface spotted with 

 white anteriorly, all white posteriorly; under tail-coverts sooty- 

 brown, with broad, longitudinal white stripes. 



Merula malindangensis, new species. 

 Geocichla mindanensis, sp. nov. 

 Mindanao ground-thrush. 



Type. — No. 14264, Mearns collection. Adult female from Mount Malindang at 

 6,500 feet, northwestern Mindanao, Philippine Islands, June 4, 1906. 



Description of type (and only specimen). — Upper surface, including head, dark, 

 ashen-gray, closely resembling the shade of the same parts in Geocichla cinerea 

 Bourns and Worcester; feathers of the back, edged with black; scapulars with 

 black spots occupying the tip of the web on the upper side; wing and tail-feathers, 

 shaded with brown, and crossed by obsolete, wavy bars of darker; lores, eyelids, 

 ear-coverts, and checks, cinereous, finely mixed with pale fawn color, the malar 

 region being cross-banded with black and fawn, and the ear-coverts longitudinally 

 striped with white ; chin and throat, white, narrowly cross-banded with black, 

 and bordered by black stripes; pectoral region, plain cinerous-ash, with pale shafts 

 to the feathers; lower chest and flanks, black-and-white, each feather heavily 



