LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 590.5 FI V.39 cop. 3 NATURAL HISrORY, SURVEY FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY A continuation of the ZOOLOGICAL SERIES 0/ FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY VOLUME 39 NATURAL HISTORV PURVEY FEB 11 1971 IIRR4RY /.S NATURAL ^\ f**' HISTORY ^\ •-etsm ^ FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY CHICAGO, U.S.A. tO-5 5^ FIELDIANA • ZOOLOGY ^^ Published by S CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Volume 39 January 21, 1960 No. 33 A NEW SPECIES OF BABBLING THRUSH FROM THE PHILIPPINES Austin L. Rand Chief Curator, Department of Zoology A single example of a babbling thrush collected by Dr. D. S. Rabor in northern Luzon in 1959 proves to be a representative of Napothera, a genus hitherto not found in the Philippines. The speci- men, though still wearing some of its nestling plumage, has fully grown wings and tail, and much of its first year plumage — enough to show that it can be assigned to no known species. Hence it is described on this scant material. Napothera rabori, new species Type. — Chicago Natural History Museum no. 253557 from Tab- bug, Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, northern Luzon, altitude 250 feet. Immature male, collected May 12, 1959, by Dr. D. S. Rabor. Diagnosis. — A fairly large member of the genus Napothera Gray 1842 {Turdinus Blyth 1844 as used by Delacour, 1946, L'Oiseau et R. F. 0., 16, n.s., pp. 16, 23), standing between marmorata and macrodactyla on the one hand and crispifrons, brevicaudata and epi- lepidota on the other. Indeed it connects the two groups, combining the characters of each, and confirms the view that Turdinus should be merged in Napothera. In coloration, the olive, black-squamate back; the white throat with lateral feathers edged with black; the white, heavily gray- squamate breast; the semi-concealed white bar on the lower rump; the white tips to the greater wing coverts; and the white tips to the two outer primaries make this an easily recognized species. Description of type. — No rictal bristles; wing very rounded; tail rounded, with outer rectrices about 25 mm. shorter than central ones; rectrices of normal width but thin and somewhat disintegrated; rump feathers especially long, soft and dense. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 60-9519 -^ . ._. ^^ TKUHHytflK No. 881 377 i^ fcwwf^i •! iw* FfB 18 ',960 ,,^ . iWaSITYDflLUIMII 878 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 39 Crown dark reddish brown, each feather with darker edgings; sides of head brighter, uniform reddish brown; foreback feathers oHve edged with black (giving a scaled appearance), mixed with a few rufous feathers of the nestling plumage; rump feathers tipped with reddish brown, the posterior feathers tipped with white, forming a semi-concealed narrow white bar just above the base of the tail; upper tail coverts and upper surface of tail dark red-brown, brighter on upper tail coverts; greater wing coverts black, edged externally with dark reddish brown and tipped with white or buffy, forming a small, distinct wing bar; primary coverts black, with small white marks at the tips; secondaries black, edged externally with dark olive brown and with slightly paler brown tips; primaries black, edged with paler olive brown and the outer two with white marks at the tips of the outer webs; throat grayish brown mixed with white feathers cen- trally and white, black-edged feathers laterally; breast with white feathers with broad gray edgings mixed with reddish brown feathers; abdomen mixed white and brownish gray feathers; flanks reddish brown mixed with semi-concealed white-tipped feathers; under tail coverts dark reddish brown; under wing grayish black. Measurements. — Wing, 82; tail, 72; culmen from base, 25; tarsus, 31 mm. Range. — Known only from the type specimen from a lowland locality inland from Laoag in extreme northwestern Luzon. Remarks. — The red brown feathers which cover the crown and sides of head and are scattered through the under parts and the back are probably remnants of the nestling plumage. Presumably the adult will be found to have the crown olive brown, lightly scaled; the back olive, distinctly scaled; the throat white, the lateral feathers with black edgings; the breast white, heavily squamated with gray; and the tips of the upper wing coverts pure white. Despite this uncertainty this specimen certainly represents the addition of a striking new species of babbling thrush to the Philippine avifauna. From the appearance of the bird one would expect its habitat to be the undergrowth of the forest. Dr. Rabor writes that the type was one of a pair, the other disappearing into the dense undergrowth. I am indebted to Mr. H. Deignan of the United States National Museum, an authority on the Timaliidae, for examining and com- menting on this specimen. .«»^OlS^?ia''^hT i!-'^'il0ni/81VM} 90.S ^3 /UX :^A