Читать книгу A Manual of Philippine Birds - Richard C. McGregor - Страница 250

 Scolopax cinerea Güldenstädt, Novi Comm. Acad. Sci. Imp. Petrop. (1775), 19, 473, pl. 19.

 Terekia cinerea Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 474; Hand-List (1899), 1, 161; Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1902), 2, 47; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 26.

Bohol (Everett); Cebu (McGregor); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Negros (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Palawan (Whitehead). Northern Siberia, northeastern Europe; in winter Africa and Indian Peninsula to Australia.

“Adult male in breeding plumage.—Differs from the winter plumage in having black centers to feathers of upper surface; head streaked with blackish brown; a rufescent tint pervades the upper surface; lesser wing-coverts and scapulars almost entirely black, the latter forming a double band down the back; wing-coverts, secondaries, lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts, mottled with dusky markings; below white; lower throat and fore neck streaked with blackish. ‘Bill black, base of lower mandible yellowish green; feet olive-gray; iris dark brown.’ (Taczanowski.) Length, 215; culmen, 51; wing, 136; tail, 56; tarsus, 29.

“The yellow base to the lower mandible appears to me to be a sign of immaturity and winter plumage, as it seems to disappear entirely in breeding birds.

“Adult female in breeding plumage.—Similar to the male, with less of the bronzy tint above; black streaks on upper surface and dusky streaks on throat less pronounced. Length, 241; culmen, 48; wing, 136; tail, 56; tarsus, 25.

“Young male of the year.—Similar to the adults, but with a much shorter bill, its base conspicuously yellow; mantle streaked with blackish; scapulars marked with black almost as much as in the adult bird; upper tail-coverts and tail barred with dusky and pale rufous; greater coverts black, forming a band across wing; head, neck, and under parts as in the adult winter plumage, the throat not being streaked with dusky. ‘Bill blackish olive, yellowish olive at base of both mandibles; feet, including web, bright orange-yellow; iris blackish brown.’ (Stejneger.)

“Adult in winter plumage.—General color above light ashy gray, with obsolete whitish edges to scapulars and wing-coverts, especially the greater series; lesser coverts distinctly black in the center; alula, primary-coverts, and quills blackish, outer primaries with white shafts, inner primaries ashy toward the ends, with a white fringe; secondaries broadly tipped with white, and white along the inner web; inner secondaries ashy gray like the back, with blackish shaft-lines; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts like the back, the latter freckled and edged with ashy white; tail-feathers ashy gray, whitish at base, mottled with ashy; head and neck ashy gray; forehead and eyebrow white, becoming fulvescent above ear-coverts; lores dusky ashy; sides of face whitish, streaked with ashy gray, the upper edge of ear-coverts uniform ashy; cheeks, throat, and under surface pure white; sides of neck and sides of upper breast ashy gray, the latter with a distinct dusky patch; axillars and under wing-coverts white; feathers along edge of wing ashy gray; quills grayish below. ‘Bill dark brown, yellowish at base of lower mandible; feet and toes yellow; iris brown.’ (Oates.)” (Sharpe.)

This curious sandpiper was met with in considerable numbers on the tide-flats near Minglanilla, Cebu, in November, 1906. At or near high water the species was found, in company with Heteractitis, resting among the roots of mangrove trees and at such times it was no uncommon occurrence to kill several specimens of each species at one shot. As the rocky flats became exposed these birds scattered to feed and became more difficult to approach. The bill of the female is much longer than that of the male, but the plumage is similar in the two sexes. In a male taken November 20, the bill was black, except the yellow base, legs bright orange-chrome, and nails black.