372 
Philippine Journal of Science 
1920 
Munia jagori Martens, a weaver finch that often congregates 
in fiocks of from two to three hundred individuals, although 
much smaller flocks are commoner. Uroloncha everetti (Tweed- 
dale) is a less-abundant weaver finch. 
One of the most interesting birds found in thickets and tall 
grass is Centropus viridis (Scopoli), a large, long-tailed cuckoo, 
entirely different from the small North American cuckoos and 
more like the roadrunner. Geococcyx calif ornianus (Lesson). 
Its length is nearly 40 centimeters, of which 25 centimeters are 
appropriated for the wide wedge-shaped tail, the feathers of 
which are 3.5 centimeters wide. The entire plumage is lax and 
slightly harsh, thus being very suggestive of the roadrunner. 
The grass owl, Tyto longimembris ( Jerdon) , which is very 
similar to the North American barn owl, is at home in open 
grassy country and is fairly abundant in the area under con- 
sideration. A species of Chinese quail has been introduced and 
seems to thrive in this area. 
In bamboos and second-growth thickets that may grow in 
scattered clumps in the grassland, especially near streams, are 
found other species of wide distribution. Three species of doves, 
already mentioned, feed in fields and along roads and often rest 
in bamboos; a migratory green dove, Chalcophaps indica (Lin- 
naeus) , feeds on the ground in thickets, flies near the ground, and 
avoids the open; Copsychus mindanensis Boddaert, a conspic- 
uously marked, black and white, thrushlike bird with a pleasing 
hearty song, is found in bamboo thickets. 
Another common black and white bird is Rhipidura nigritor- 
quis Vigors; this creature appears to be very well pleased with 
itself for it seems to enjoy nothing better than to twist and turn, 
spread its long and strongly graduated, white-tipped tail, expand 
its wings, twitch its tail up and down, then flit to another twig 
and repeat the series. It has a harsh rasping call not at all 
consistent with its conceited actions, but it also executes a 
simple song of a few notes. This flycatcher is widely distributed 
in the Archipelago, having been noted on thirty-two islands, 
but it does not seem to occur north of Luzon ; it is characteristic 
of lowland second-growth thickets and small forest and is quite 
at home in the mangroves. 
Another equally common flycatcher, characteristic of the 
second-growth forest and of thickets bordering streams, is a 
beautiful blue species, Hypothymis occipitalis (Vigors) ; on the 
occiput there is a velvety black patch, and across the forebreast 
there is a narrow black crescent ; the short feathers immediately 
posterior of the nostrils and in the rami of the lower jaw are 
