HYF0T.«N1I>IA. 201 



Order FULICARLE. 

 Family RALLID^. 



Ca-en-aS I3:-5rr=OT^iE3STIIDI.^, lu-irhenha,-!,. 



Hypotaenidia brachypus. 



LEWIN'S WATER RAIL. 



KaUiiK bracliijpiis, Swaiiison, Aniiii. in Menag., p. -'iSG (LS37). 



Ralln.s leiciidi, Gould, Uds. Austr., fol. Vol. VI., pi, 77 (ISIS). 



KaJlua hracJujjHS, Gould, Handlik. Hd.s. Austr., Vol. II., p. .''>3(j (1805). 



II iipo((iuidia brachypus, Sliarpn, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mu.s., \^ol. XXITI , p. 37(l.S9-tJ; hi., Hand-1. 

 Bds., Vol. r., p. !)G (1S!)9). 



Adult m.\lf,. — G'lterdI cnlinir abaci', inchidiuy Ihe scapnin r.-i, Hi/ht olice-bnjirii, all (In' [fathers 

 beiiig broaiUi/ streaked rci/ii black ; lesser and median, upper iriiuj-iyjrerfs olive-brown ■ /lie yrea/er iving- 

 coveris black with C07is/iicuous transverse cross-bars and lips of niliile ; ijaills bron>n, tlie innermost 

 secondaries blackish, and all liaring slight remains of very iKtrrow terminal white bars ; lores dusky ; 

 Joreliead, erown and sides of t lie head, -neck and hind-neck chestnut, paler on the sides of the heail, the 

 Jealhers on. the middle ol the forehead, cron:u and hind-neck having bln.ckish centres : chin and throat dull 

 H'hite, loith an ashy shade on the lower pm-tion ; under sides of neck and fore-neck ol ive-brown, passing 

 into slaty-grey on the upper breast : lower breast and abdomen black or slaty-black, narrouAy barred 

 transversely nnth >vhite : vent isabelline : under tail-coverls brownish-white with blarkish centres : bill 

 dull reddish-brow)i, darker on the cnlnien, paler at the base of ihelou-er mandible ; I eg s and feet fleshy- 

 brown : iris yellowish-brown. Total length in the flesh S inches, wing 3 9, tail 1-7, bUI 1-2, tarsn.s 



ri. 



Aiiult fem.\le. — Similar in. plumage to theadulf male, but slightly smaller, and liaving only an 

 indication ql the slaty-grey band on the upper breast, this jiart being mostly light olive-broivn. Wing 

 J'7 inches. 



Diitrihniion. — New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania. 



"^^^ OTWITHSTANDING that the various members of the Order Fulic.vki.e are found in 

 -L jl nearly every part of Australia, more than half of the species occur within five miles of 

 the city of Sydney, the first settled part of the continent. The Botany Water Reserve 

 and the swampy paits of Rand wick, Lons^ Bay, Little Bay and La Perouse are the haunts of 

 numerous Water Rails, and to a lesser extent the reed-bordered parts of Cook and George Rivers. 

 With the e.Kception of the Order P.\sseres, no other is as well represented so close to the 

 metropolis as the Order Fui,ic.\ki.e. 



Lewin's Water Rail is widely distributed, principally over the coastal districts of Southern 

 Australia and the whole of Tasmania. There are numerous specimens in the .\ustralian Museum 

 Collection, obtained principally at Randwick, Botany, and Long Bay, in New South Wales; 

 also from King George Sound in Western Australia, and various parts of Tasmania. The late 

 Mr. H. Newcombe, a frequent donor of different species of Water Rails, presented two interesting 

 specimens, consisting of an adult female, which he secured at Randwick, together with one of 

 its fully Hedged young, on the i6th April, 1S95. While fishing I have often, on a summers 

 evening, just about dusk, seen this species leave its secure retreat among the reeds, and venture 

 into the shallow weed-grown water close at hand in search of food. If one remains quiet, it will 

 proceed some distance from its haunts, but on the lirst appearance or sign of danger it runs 



51 



