J.GpuU. * h ' Hurt d rl a h i/, SAB.COPHAWOJPS STE ER II, Sharp*
SARCOPHANOPS STEERII , Sharpe.
S te e re ’s Broadbill.
Eurylamus steerii, Sharpe, Nature, August, 1876, p. 297.
Sarcophanops steerii, Sharpe, Transactions of the Linnean Society, 2nd series, Zoology, vol. i. part 5, pi. lii.
W h en the Marquis of Tweeddale (then Lord Walden) wrote his well-known memoir on the birds of the
Philippine archipelago, the absence of Broadbills was a feature noticed by him, since the predominance of
the family in the Malayan archipelago might have led us to expect to find it represented in these
neighbouring islands. We have this want supplied in the subject of our Plate, which represents
one of the most beautiful of the Eurylcemidce, a bird discovered by Dr. Steere during his Philippine
expedition. It is a remarkable species in many ways—the diverse colouring of the sexes and the
peculiar arrangement of the colours being very striking, while the prominent eye-wattle justifies its
generic separation from the other Broadbills. Its home is apparently the island of Basilan, which lies to
the southward of Mindanao. This island had never been visited by a collector before Dr. Steere went there;
and it was therefore to be expected that some novelties would be found; but of all the fine new species
discovered by the above-named naturalist in the Philippines, this is undoubtedly the most interesting. He
writes as follows .
“ I only fell in with this species on one single occasion in the island of Basilan, when I found a little
flock of about seven individuals in the thick deep jungle towards the centre of the island. They were
feeding on fruit, and were very tame, having probably never been disturbed before by a gun, and did not
take flight until I had secured three of their number. Of all the birds I ever saw, this one has the most
beautiful eye. I can only describe it as being of the colour of gold-stone; that is to say, it was like a piece
of clear crystal crowded with specks of gold. All three specimens had the iris exactly the same.
The following is a transcript of Mr. Sharpe’s description of this bird:—
Adult male.—Above dark grey; the rump and upper tail-coverts shining purplish vinous; tail bright
chestnut; top of the head shining dark purplish brown; a ring round the neck and sides of the latter
white; lores white, tipped with the same colour as the head; sides of face and entire throat black; rest of
the body underneath lilac, the flanks slightly vinaceous, the lower abdomen whitish; under tail-coverts
buffish; thighs grey ; axillaries white ; under wing-coverts black ; wings black, the inner secondaries white
at the base, the outer ones externally orange-yellow, showing a transverse alar bar; the first primary
narrowly edged with white towards the base of the outer web; round the eye a large wattle of pale
indigo ; bill and feet pale indigo. Total length 6-8 inches; culmen 0 ‘9, wing 3’45, tail 2-75, tarsus 0*85.
Adult female.—Similar-to the male, but distinguished by its white (instead of lilac-coloured) breast.
The figures in the Plate represent the typical pair of this species, and are of the size of life.