A CONTRIBUTION TO THE AVIFAUNA OF THE SULU ISLANDS.
Reading edition
By R. Bowdler Sharpe, F.L.S., F.Z.S., etc.
Senior Assistant, Department of Zoology, British Museum.
PROC. ZOOL. SOC. 1879. Part II.
[Received March 18, 1879.]
In addition to the birds obtained by Mr. Burbidge, I have received permission from the authorities of the Oxford Museum to describe the large Bornean collections forwarded to that institution by Mr. W. H. Treacher, Acting Governor of Labuan. Amongst them are a few birds from Sulu, but apparently not the result of a separate expedition, but presented to Mr. Treacher by Mr. Burbidge. To the latter gentleman I am indebted for the following notes:—
Mr. Burbidge left England on a botanical expedition, to collect living plants; and his success in this department of natural history is well known. His chief attention having been devoted to plants, it only remains to thank him for the intelligent way in which he devoted his scanty leisure time to forming the present collection of birds.
The following I believe to be a correct list of Sulu birds as at present known; and I have included the few species mentioned by Peale as procured in Mangsi by the United States Exploring Expedition. I have also added the references to Lord Tweeddale’s recent papers on the Philippine collections of Mr. Alfred Everett, and have given the ranges of the different species in the Philippine archipelago, so as to bring the subject up to the present date.
1. Cacatua hamæturopygia (P. L. S. Müll.).
Cacatua hamæturophygia, Wald. Tr. Z. S. ix. p. 132; Sharpe, Tr. Linn. Soc. n.s. i. p. 312; Tweedd. P. Z. S. 1877, pp. 756, 817; 1878, pp. 107, 281, 340, 379.
Two specimens.
[Luzon (Meyer); Guimaras (Meyer); Negros (Meyer, Steere, Everett); Zebu (Everett); Leyte (Everett); Nipar (Everett); Panaon (Everett); Butuan River, N. Mindanao (Everett); Sulu (Burbidge).]
2. Prioniturus discurus (V.).
Prioniturus discurus, Wald. Tr. Z. S. ix. p. 132; Sharpe, Tr. Linn. Soc. n.s. i. p. 312; Tweedd. P. Z. S. 1877, pp. 538, 688, 756, 817; 1878, p. 379.
A single specimen, agreeing with others in the British Museum from the Philippine Islands.
[Luzon (Meyer, Everett); Negros (Steere); Zebu (Everett); Panaon (Everett); Mindanao (Cuming, Everett, Murray); Basilan (Steere); Sulu (Burbidge); Balabak (Steere).]
3. Tanygnathus lucionensis (L.).
Tanygnathus lucionensis, Wald. Tr. Z. S. ix. p. 133; Sharpe, Tr. Lin. Soc. n.s. i. p. 312; Tweedd. P. Z. S. 1877, pp. 538, 756, 817; 1878, pp. 281, 340, 612.
A single specimen, collected by Mr. Burbidge, and exactly resembling the specimens from Manilla and from Palawan in the British Museum.
[Luzon (Meyer); Guimaras (Meyer); Negros (L. C. Layard, Steere, Everett); Cebu (Everett); Leyte (Everett); Mindanao (Steere, Everett); Malanipa (Murray); Sulu (Burbidge, Peale); Palawan (Steere, Everett).]
4. Tanygnathus burbidgei, sp. n.
Similis T. muelleri, ex Celebes, sed dorso toto sordide prasino, capite flavicanti-viridi et alis omnino viridibus distinguendus.
This fine new species of Tanygnathus is closely allied to T. muelleri of Celebes and T. everetti of Mindanao. It differs from T. muelleri in having the back green instead of yellow, while the head is yellowish green and not emerald-green; there is also no blue on the wing-coverts, the whole wing being green.
The following is a full description of the bird.
Adult. General colour above dark grass-green, including the hind neck, entire mantle, and scapulars; wings a little lighter green, the wing-coverts and secondaries with narrow yellow margins, the primaries blackish on the inner web, externally dark grass-green with a slight blue shade along the shaft, the first primary black shaded with blue on the outer web; entire back and rump deep cobalt-blue; upper tail-coverts green, slightly shaded with yellow on the margins; tail-feathers dark green, with a narrow margin of yellow at the tip, the under surface of the tail golden-yellow; head yellowish green, the sides of the face also of this colour; the under-surface of the body bright grass-green, yellow on the throat and fore neck and passing into green on the breast and abdomen; under wing-coverts and under tail-coverts of the same green as the breast, with yellow margins; quills ashy blackish below. Total length 15·5 inches, culmen 1·8, wing 8·6, tail 6·4, tarsus 0·65.
On comparing T. burbidgei with T. everetti, one is struck at once by the larger size of the former and its yellowish green head, the crown being emerald-green in T. everetti, which also has the wing only 7·55 inches in length (Samar: Mus. Brit.). None of the Sulu birds, of which there are five in the collections, have the feathers of the mantle edged with blue as in the Samar individual.
5. Elanus hypoleucus, Gould.
Elanus hypoleucus, Sharpe, Cat. B. i. p. 338; Wald. Tr. Z. S. ix. p. 142; Tweedd. P. Z. S. 1877, p. 757.
An adult specimen: wing 11·5 inches.
[Luzon (Jagor); Cebu (Everett); Sulu (Burbidge); N.W. Borneo (Treacher).]
6. Scops rufescens (Horsf.).
Scops rufescens, Sharpe, Cat. B. iii. p. 102.
One specimen.
This bird seems to me to differ slightly from Bornean and Malaccan examples in having a much darker face, the ear-coverts shaded with black. I do not, however, propose to found a new species on a single example, and must wait for more specimens. The measurements of the Sulu bird are as follows:—Total length 7 inches, culmen 0·7, wing 4·8, tail 2·6, tarsus 0·85. It will be seen that they are a good deal inferior to those of the type of Scops mantis, as given by me in the “Catalogue.”
7. Cuculus fucatus, Peale.
Cuculus fucatus, Peale, U.S. Expl. Exp. Zool. 1848, p. 136.
C. tenuirostris, Less.; Cass. U.S. Expl. Exp. p. 244.
This cuckoo may be Cuculus himalayanus, which has recently been shot in Labuan by Governor Ussher; but it is difficult to decide without seeing a specimen. At present the species is only known from the plate and description given by Peale, who procured it on the island of Mangsi.
8. Artamus leucorhynchus (L.).
Artamus leucorhynchus, Walden, P. Z. S. ix. p. 174; Sharpe, Tr. Linn. Soc. n.s. i. p. 323; Tweedd. P. Z. S. 1877, pp. 544, 692, 759, 826; 1878, pp. 283, 342.
A. leucogaster (Valenc.); Sharpe in Rowley’s Orn. Misc. iii. p. 179.
One specimen.
[Luzon (Meyer); Guimaras (Meyer); Negros (Meyer, Everett); Cebu (Murray, Everett); Leyte (Everett); Mindanao (Everett, Steere); Sulu (Burbidge); Mangsi (Peale).]
9. Oriolus chinensis, L.
Oriolus chinensis, Sharpe, Cat. B. iii. p. 203.
O. suluensis, Sharpe, tom. cit. p. 205.
Broderipus acrorhynchus (Vig.); Walden, Tr. Z. S. ix. p. 185; Tweedd. P. Z. S. 1877, pp. 545, 694, 760, 826; 1878, pp. 110, 285, 342, 380.
The receipt of three more specimens from Mr. Burbidge convinces me that the Sulu Islands bird, which I thought was a race of O. frontalis, Wall., from the Sula Islands, is not really specifically separable from the common oriole of the Philippines, called by me Oriolus chinensis, and by Lord Tweeddale Broderipus acrorhynchus. A further comparison of the series seems to show that O. frontalis of Wallace, from the Sula Islands, is scarcely to be distinguished from O. chinensis, the only difference being the slightly greater extent of yellow on the tail-feathers in the latter bird.
[Luzon (Meyer); Panay (Murray); Guimaras (Meyer); Negros (Meyer, Steere, Everett); Cebu (Meyer, Murray, Everett); Leyte (Everett); Panaon (Everett); Dinagat (Everett); Mindanao (Steere, Murray, Everett); Sulu (Burbidge); Si Butu (Low); Balabac (Steere).]
10. Corone philippina (Bp.).
Corone philippina, Sharpe, Cat. B. iii. p. 42; id. Tr. Linn. Soc. n.s. i. p. 343.
Corvus philippinus, Bp.; Wald. Tr. Z. S. ix. p. 201; Tweedd. P. Z. S. 1877, pp. 548, 698, 763, 831; 1878, pp. 113, 287, 343, 381.
Three specimens.
[Luzon (Cuming, Meyer, Everett); Cujo (Meyer); Panay (Murray); Negros (Meyer, Steere, Everett); Cebu (Everett); Leyte (Everett); Panaon (Everett); Camiguin (Murray); Dinagat (Everett); Mindanao (Murray, Everett); Sulu (Burbidge).]
11. Sarcops lowii.
Sarcops lowii, Sharpe, l.c. p. 344.
Several specimens collected by Mr. Burbidge confirm the distinctness of this species from S. calvus.
12. Osmotreron vernans (L.).
Osmotreron vernans, Wald. Tr. Z. S. ix. p. 210; Sharpe, Tr. Linn. Soc. n.s. i. p. 346; Tweedd. P. Z. S. 1877, p. 764; 1878, p. 623.
A female specimen.
[Luzon (Meyer); Panay (Steere); Zebu (Everett); Sulu (Burbidge); Palawan (Steere).]
13. Osmotreron axillaris (Gray).
Osmotreron axillaris, Walden, Tr. Z. S. ix. p. 211; Sharpe, Tr. Linn. Soc. ix. p. 346; Tweedd. P. Z. S. 1877, pp. 549, 699, 764, 832; 1878, pp. 113, 287.
An adult specimen.
[Luzon (Meyer, Everett); Guimaras (Meyer); Panay (Murray); Negros (Meyer, Steere, Everett); Cebu (Everett); Dinagat (Everett); Mindanao (Steere, Everett); Sulu (Burbidge).]
14. Carpophaga ænea (L.).
Carpophaga ænea, Wald. Tr. Z. S. ix. p. 215; Sharpe, Tr. Linn. Soc. n.s. i. p. 346; Tweedd. P. Z. S. 1877, pp. 764, 832; 1878, pp. 113, 288, 344, 623.
One specimen.
[Luzon (Meyer); Negros (Meyer, Steere, Everett); Cebu (Everett); Leyte (Everett); Dinagat (Everett); Mindanao (Everett); Sulu (Burbidge); Palawan (Steere, Everett).]
15. Carpophaga pickeringi.
Carpophaga pickeringi, Cass. Pr. Philad. Acad. 1854, p. 228; id. U.S. Expl. Exp. p. 267, pl. xxvii; Sharpe, Tr. Linn. Soc. n.s. i. p. 353.
Procured by the United States Exploring Expedition in the island of Mangsi.
16. Ianthœnas griseigularis, Wald. et Layard.
Ianthœnas griseigularis, Wald. Tr. Z. S. ix. p. 218; id. P. Z. S. 1878. p. 288.
One specimen.
I refer this pigeon with some hesitation to I. griseigularis, of which I have never seen a specimen, and only know it from Mr. Keuleman’s figure in the Ibis for 1872 (pl. vi.). On the other hand, it is very closely allied to I. albigularis of the Moluccas, but differs in the greyish shade on the white throat, which is also more restricted, and in the forehead being grey with only a slight mark of lilac.
17. Calœnas nicobarica (L.).
Calœnas nicobarica, Cas. U.S. Expl. Exp. p. 276; Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1875, p. 110.
Observed on Mangsi in some abundance by the U.S. Exploring Expedition.
18. Ptilopus melanocephalus.
Ptilopus melanocephalus (Gm.); Elliot, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 551. An adult specimen.
19. Macropygia tenuirostris, Gray.
Macropygia tenuirostris, Walden, Tr. Z. S. ix. p. 218; Sharpe, Tr. Linn. Soc. n.s. i. p. 347.
Two specimens.
[Luzon (Meyer); Basilan (Steere); Sulu (Burbidge).]
Lord Tweeddale differs from Professor Schlegel’s opinion that the same Philippine species is found in Java and Lombock, where it is M. emiliana of Bonaparte; but having compared several specimens lately, I believe that the Professor’s view is the right one, and that the bird is found over the Philippines, and occurs even in Borneo. Lord Tweeddale separates the Negros bird as M. eurycerca.
20. Gallus stramineicollis, sp. n.
General colour above black, shot with green and purple; wing-coverts like the back, the innermost and the scapulars with a slight subterminal shine of coppery brown; primary-coverts and primaries black, the secondaries externally green; feathers of the lower back and rump straw-yellow, with darker longitudinal centres of black or green; upper tail-coverts and tail glossy oil-green; crown of head and nape black; hind neck and neck-hackles, as well as sides of neck, straw-yellow, deeper on the hind neck, with green longitudinal centres to the feathers; remainder of under surface of body black with a green gloss; comb short and rounded; sides of face and entire throat bare. Total length 34·5 inches, culmen 1·1, wing 9·0, tail 17·5, tarsus 3·4.
Mr. Burbidge procured a single example of this jungle-fowl, which appears to be a very distinct species. He tells me that it was brought to the ship by one of the Sulu natives alive, and he cannot vouch for its having been a wild bird. I have, however, shown the bird to Mr. Gould and other ornithologists; and they agree with me that it is probably a distinct species of jungle-fowl. Governor Ussher also has seen the bird; and he tells me that he has never seen any domesticated fowls in Borneo or the Eastern Islands which approached this species in the least.