SVNIECUS. ISl 



Synoecus diemenensis. 



TASMANIAN SWAMP yUAIL. 



Si/iin,-iifi (/ii'ineni'nsif, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, IS 17, p. 3:5; ii/., Hds. Austiv, fol. Vol. V., pi. 9(1 

 (1S4S) ; ;,/., HaiKlbk. Bd'^. Austr., Vol. II,, p. 191 (1805). 



Adult MALK. — Liki- thi> wjnll mah' of .Sv.VcKCUS AUSTRALIS, hnf /aiy,'r null rirlitr i,,. colour, 

 (lull liiirin;/ hromh'r ii,wl inorf /iruuniiiK'i^il cntrnl ivliUe slmfl slrraks /" thi- up/irr par/s, ami IIik ninlur 

 piirix iiiofi' lirniiil/)/ biirri'il iiolh hlm'l,-. Tolnl h'liijth ?■/" iiirhfif:, irinii JfH, toil ..', hill (l-li, fjimiif: (>'05. 



Adult femalk. — Dijfrrs from the adult fimal'' nfH. au.stualis i)i j))r.i;ixel i/ Ihr noiw' inanitfr as 

 does tin', adult male from that sppcies. Total hngth S' ' inches, uniuj Jf-J^, tail ^■•V. 



DistrilintioH. —Tasmania. 



gf\N six adult specimens now before me the distinnuishinL; characters of this species pointed 

 JL. out by Gould are constant. The Tasmanian Swamp Ouail is altogether a larger and more 

 handsome species than Sviioxm iiz/s/ra//;. Both species are found in Tasmania, sometimes 

 freiiiienting the same locality, luit .S. Jifiiii-iii'iisis is not found in ,\ustralia. What has been 

 written of the haunts, habits and nidilication of the preceding species applies equally to 5. 

 ilitiiiciii-iisis, and it is needless liere to repeat it. The eggs of the two, however, are quite distinct. 



From Melbourne, X'ictoria, Mr. G. A. Keartland sent me tlie following notes: — "Although 

 some autiiorities ijuestion the validity of the Tasmanian Swamp ' hiail (Sviia'dis iluiiuiwiisis), I 

 think the mistake has arisen from the fact that 5. aiistralis is even more numerous in Tasmania 

 than .S'. dii'iiu'iifiisis. I have shot several liirds on the islands of 15ass Straits, and received others 

 from Tasmania, which undoubtedly belonged to this species. They all weighed fully five ounces, 

 whilst I never saw a specimen of 5. duili-tdi; weigh as much as four and a half ounces. Their 

 eggs are also much larger and evenly marked with small brown spots, but those of -S'. anstralis 

 are either quite white or very faintly marked." 



I'rom Dr. Lonsdale Ilolden's notes, made while resident at Circular Mead, on the North- 

 west coast of Tasmania, I have extracted the following: — " On the yth December, 1891, a nest 

 of Sviiiccus diciuenensis was found in the rifle-butt paddock with eleven hard set eggs. The 

 eggs are dirty white with greenish-brown pepperings. On the 15th November, i8(.)2, a nest was 

 found with eighteen fresh eggs, in the bush paddock at the eastern base of Green Hills, also 

 several others containing eight or nine eggs in the same paddock. All were found by men while 

 cutting scrub." 



The eggs usually vary from seven to eleven in number for a sitting, although Gould and 

 Dr. Holden record sets of eighteen, and are typically more elongated in form than the eggs of 

 Syiiiniis ansti-idis, the shell being comparatively close-grained, thick, and more or less lustrous. 

 In ground colour they vary from a dull yellowish-olive to a yellowish-white, which is almost 

 obscured with well defined freckles, dots and small spots of various shades, ranging from light to 

 dark brown, the latter hue pre\ailing as a rule. Six eggs of a heavily incubated set of nine, taken 

 by Mr. E. Leefe .Atkinson on the 20th I>ecember, 1893, at Boat Harbour, on the North-western 

 coast of Tasmania, measure : — -Length (A) 1-32 x i inches; (B) 1-31 x 0-98 inches ; (C) 1-31 

 X 0-96 inches ; (D) 1-32 x 0-98 inches; (E) 1-3 x 0-96 inches; (F) 1-27 x 0-96 inches. A 

 set of eleven taken by him during the latter part of 1909, near Penguin, measures: — Length 

 (A) 1-27 X 0-99 inches; (B) 1-28 x 0-99 inches; (C) 1-36 x i inches; (D) 1-3 x i inches 

 (E) 1-3 X 0-99 inches; (F) 1-32 x 0-97 inches ; (G) 1-25 x i inches; (H) 1-33 x roiinches; 

 (I) 1-33 X 1-02 inches ; (J) 1-28 x 0-98 inches ; (K) 1-32 x i inches. 



Typically the eggs of this species can be distinguished from those of Syiurciis niisfrcdis, 

 which in Tasmania may be found breeding in the same district, by their larger size, the prevailing 

 yellowish-olive hue of their ground colour, and their more distinct markings. 



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