Part 28

Rallus fasciatus Raffles, Trans. Linn. Soc. (1822), 13, pt. 2, 328. Rallina fasciata Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1894), 23, 75; Hand-List (1899), 1, 99; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 16.

Balabac (Everett); Mindoro (Porter); Palawan (Whitehead, Platen). Burmese provinces, Malay Peninsula, Indo-Malayan Islands, Halmhéra, Pelew Islands.

"Adult male.--General color above ruddy brown, scapulars like the back; rump a little more olive-brown; upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers reddish brown; lesser and median coverts ruddy brown, with buffy white bars, each of which is margined with black; greater coverts black, rather broadly barred with white, as well as the alula and primary-coverts; quills blackish brown, checkered with white spots on outer web, and barred with white on the inner one; secondaries broadly barred and tipped with white, these white markings obsolete on the innermost, rufous-brown secondaries; crown, neck, sides of face, ear-coverts, cheeks, throat, and chest chestnut, a little lighter on the throat; breast and sides white, broadly banded with black, the abdomen white; thighs white externally, ashy brown internally; under tail-coverts barred with black and white or rufous-white; under wing-coverts and axillars white, barred with black like the inner lining of quills. 'Bill dark horny; orbital skin and gape vermilion; feet and exposed portion of tibia bright coral-red; iris dull cinnabar-red.' (Davidson.) Length, 216; culmen, 24; wing, 132; tail, 48; tarsus, 46.

"Adult female.--Similar to the male in color, but a little browner, and with narrower black bars on the under surface, the abdomen being, therefore, whiter. 'Bill plumbeous; feet coral-red; iris reddish brown.' (Davidson.) Length, 230; culmen, 23; wing, 124; tail, 48; tarsus, 38.

"Young.--Differs from the adult in being browner, the bands on the wing being buffy white; sides of face, fore neck, and chest ashy brown, with a rufous tinge; throat whitish, as also the breast and abdomen, which have a few bars of dusky blackish on the sides of the body." (Sharpe.)

61. RALLINA EURIZONOIDES (Lafresnaye).

PHILIPPINE BANDED CRAKE.

Gallinula eurizonoides Lafresnaye, Rev. Zool. (1845), 368. Rallina euryzonoides Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1894), 23, 78, pl. 8, fig. 1; Hand-List (1899), 1, 100; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 16.

Basilan (McGregor); Cagayancillo (McGregor); Cebu (Everett); Leyte (Everett); Luzon (Cuming, Dussumier, Möllendorff, Bourns & Worcester); Mindanao (Bourns & Worcester); Mindoro (McGregor, Porter); Negros (Everett); Panay (Bourns & Worcester); Sulu (Guillemard).

Adult male.--Back, wings, rump, tail, and tail-coverts dark brown with a slight olive tinge; head, neck, throat, and breast bright chestnut; posterior half of breast, abdomen, flanks, under tail-coverts, under wing-coverts and axillars black with wide white cross-bars, most conspicuous on the breast; thighs brown with but little white; primaries and secondaries blackish with wide white bars on inner webs. "Bill blackish, the base tinged light green, tip grayish; legs dull greenish leaden; feet dark lead-gray; nails gray; iris brilliant red." (Everett.) Length of a male from Basilan, 254; wing, 128; tail, 65; exposed culmen, 23; tarsus, 46; middle toe with claw, 37.

Adult female.--Differs little if any from the male. A specimen from Cagayancillo had upper mandible black; lower mandible pea-green, tip bluish; legs very dark green; nails dark brown. Length, 215; wing, 128; tail, 69; exposed culmen, 23; tarsus, 40; middle toe with claw, 35.

"So far as our observation goes R. eurizonoides is a woods form, all of our specimens having been killed in deep forest. Eyes orange-red; legs and feet dark olive; upper mandible nearly black; lower olive-green." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

Genus PORZANA Vieillot, 1816.

Smallest of the Philippine rails; bill slender; middle toe with claw longer than tarsus.

Species.

a1. Upper surface freckled with white. ... auricularis (p. 71) a2. Upper surface uniform. ... plumbea (p. 72)

62. PORZANA AURICULARIS Reichenbach.

PALLAS'S CRAKE.

Porzana auricularis Reichenbach, Jour. für Orn. (1898), 139; Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 102; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1901), 1, 118. Porzana pusilla (not of Pallas) Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1894), 23, 106; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 16.

Luzon (Heriot). Eastern Siberia, Japan, China, Burmah, India, Ceylon, Borneo.

Adult male.--General color above dark ochraceous-brown with black centers to nearly all the feathers which are marked with white spots freckled with black; lower back black, freckled with white but only slightly washed with ochraceous-brown; upper tail-coverts ochraceous-brown with black centers; center of crown and hind neck dark ochraceous or reddish brown, only faintly streaked with black centers to the feathers; forehead and broad eyebrow as well as entire side of face, throat, and breast clear slaty gray; a distinct band of reddish brown along ear-coverts to sides of neck; abdomen, flanks, and thighs blackish, mottled with white bars; under tail-coverts deep black, barred with white; lesser and median wing-coverts uniform ochraceous-brown like the back, greater series with blackish centers and white frecklings; innermost secondaries like the back with broad black centers, the inner webs paler ochraceous-brown thereby forming a broad longitudinal band on each side of the back; alula, primary-coverts, and quills sepia-brown; edges of alula and first primary white; under wing-coverts and axillars dusky brown with a few white spots and bars; tail-feathers blackish, edged with dark ochraceous-brown. (Compiled from Sharpe, Catalogue of Birds). "Bill green, dusky on the culmen and at the tips; legs and feet green, with a yellowish tinge, sometimes brownish olive, sometimes pale green or pale olive-green; claws pale brown; iris normally red, sometimes briar-red, crimson, or carmine." (Hume.) Length, 178; culmen, 19; wing, 89; tail, 42; tarsus, 28; middle toe and claw, 38.

"Adult female.--Similar to the male in color. Length, 178; culmen, 16; wing, 94; tail, 43; tarsus, 28.

"Young.--Is like the adult on the upper surface and is similarly marked with black and white, but the general tone of the plumage is rather more rufous; the head like the back; sides of face rufous-brown, as also eyebrow; lores whitish; throat, breast, and abdomen dull white; fore neck and chest rufescent, barred across with dusky; lower flanks, vent, and under tail-coverts black, barred with white. 'Iris orange-red or reddish brown.' (Hume.)" (Sharpe.)

63. PORZANA PLUMBEA (Gray).

LEAD-COLORED CRAKE.

Crex plumbea Gray, in Griffith ed. Cuvier (1829), 3, 410. Porzana tabuensis Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1894), 23, 111 (part). Porzana plumbea Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 102; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 16.

Luzon (Meyer, McGregor). New Hebrides, Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Chatham, Samoa, and Fiji Islands.

Adult (sexes alike).--Above including wings reddish chocolate-brown; rump slightly darker; head and neck blackish; sides of face and under parts dark slate-gray; chin and throat more or less whitish; under tail-coverts black with white bars; edge of wing, first alula quill, and first primary white; under wing-coverts mottled with ashy brown and white. Bill black; iris and eyelids brick-red; legs and feet light salmon; nails dark brown. Ten specimens from the vicinity of Manila measure: Length, 165 to 178; wing, 69 to 78 (average 75); tail, 36 to 44 (average 40); exposed culmen, 15 to 19 (average 16); tarsus, 23 to 26 (average 25); middle toe with claw, 29 to 32 (average 31).