o 



6J 



AEACHNOTHEEA DILUTIOR 



(PHILIPPINE SPIDER-HUNTER.) 



Arachnothera dilutior, Sharpe, Nature, 3rd August, 1876, p. 297. 



d ad. supra olivascenti-flavus, pileo et nucha bruiinescentibus : alis caudaque brunneis, tectricibus alarum 

 minimis et medianis cinerascenti-olivaceo lavatis, majoribus olivaceo vix limbatis, remigibus rectrici- 

 busque laete flavo marginatis : rectricibus externis albo terminatis : capite laterali cinerascenti-brunneo, 

 striga mystacali saturate brunnea, : subtus albescens, gutture pallide brunneo lavato, et corporis lateribus 

 olivaseente lavatis : fasciis pectoralibus laete flavis : alis infra brunneis, subalaribus et pogonio remigum 

 interno albis : rostro nigro, culmine et mandibula pallidis. 



Hab. in insula philippinensi " Palawan " dictiL 



Adult Male. Upper parts olive-yellow, shading into brown on the back of the neck and upper part of the 

 head ; wings and tail brown ; the least and median series of wing-coverts washed with ashy olive, the 

 greater coverts with ill-defined olive edges ; the quills and tail-feathers edged with bright olive-yellow, 

 the latter with white ends, broadest on the outer feathers ; sides of the head ashy brown, with a dark 

 brown moustacliial streak ; underparts white, faintly shaded with ashy brown on the throat, and with 

 pale olive-yellow on the sides of the body ; pectoral tufts bright chrome-yellow ; under surface of the 

 wings brown, with the coverts and inner margins of the quills white; hill black, fading almost into 

 white on the keel and base of the mandible ; eyelids yellow ; iris dark brown ; legs leaden grey. Total 

 length 5 - 7 inches, culmen 1*5, wing 2'7, tail 1*9, tarsus 075. 



Hab. Island of Palawan, in the Philippine archipelago. 



This is the first species of Arachnothera that has been discovered in the Philippine Islands ; it is 

 most nearly allied to A. longirostra, from which it differs in having the breast white, only slightly 

 shaded with pale olive-yellow on the sides of the body, and in the crown being brown with no 

 olive shade. 



The illustration and description of this bird are taken from the only specimen known, a 

 male, collected by Dr. Steere in the island of Palawan, in July 1874. I have to acknowledge 

 the courtesy of this gentleman in lending it to me. 



