White-browed Tailorbird

SCI Name:  Orthotomus nigriceps
Protonym:  Orthotomus nigriceps Proc.Zool.Soc.London(1877) (1877), Pt4 p.828 pl.85
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Cisticolidae / Orthotomus
Taxonomy Code:  whbtai1
Type Locality:  Butuan, Philippines.
Author:  Tweeddale
Publish Year:  1878
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

ORTHOTOMUS
(Cisticolidae; Ϯ Olive-backed Tailorbird O. sepium) Gr. ορθος orthos  straight; τομευς tomeus, τομεως tomeōs  knife, edge (cf. ορθοτομεω orthotomeō  to cut straight); "Gen. 34. ORTHOTOMUS.   Rostrum mediocre, rectum, subdepressum, basi triquetrum, attenuatum: culmine basi carinato, versus apicem leviter arcuato.  Mandibula tomiis rectissimis.  Nares basales, magnæ, superne membrana clausæ, inferne rima longitudinali apertæ.  Alæ: remiges, 1 spuria, 2 et 3 abrupte longiores, 4—8 longiores subæquales externe emarginatæ, ceteræ gradatim breviores cuneatæ.  Pedes subelongati.  Digitus exterior a medio ad basin connexus: hallux validus.  Ungues compressi arcuati acuti, postico medio duplo majore.  Acropodia scutulata.   The straightness and slenderness of the bill distinguish Orthotomus from the two former genera [Pomatorhinus, Prinia]; these characters, with the depression and triangular form of the base of the bill, prevent its union with the other genera of this family. I have not been able to determine satisfactorily the affinity of this genus. The slenderness of the bill and its other habits associate it with the Certhiadæ; in the acumen of the bill and the size of the hallux it resembles in some degree the genus Sitta.    Spec. 1. Orthotomus sepium.  ...  Chiglet Javanis." (Horsfield 1821); "Orthotomus Horsfield, 1821, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 13, p. 165. Type, by monotypy, Orthotomus sepium Horsfield." (Watson in Peters 1986, XI, 173).  
Var. Orthotoma.
Synon. Edela, Sutoria.

nigriceps
L. niger  black; -ceps  -headed  < caput, capitis  head.