RALLIVA. 207 



hhi-k. Ih^, bixrriwii OH the iiiU'i- /rr't, ,rhite .- /h,- nn.hr wlw/cover/s of a inorr dwidud t/rpii and 

 i-<',i-<,,icHou>il;j barred, spuU.d or lipprd n-ilh whit,',- "bUl yr,;-a waxh.'d with ,jMow oh the cntliwj 

 cd,,,-^: h.,js and feet, dark olive ,- iris orange-scarlet" (McLennan). Total lemjlh IVr, inches, win;, 

 o'S, tail ■',, bill 1, tarsus 1 '.I. 



Adult fkmalk — Similar in /iluniai/e to the male. 

 I >i^lrilndioii. — North-eastern Oueeiisland. 



AI^IIIC Ked-necked Kail was oii<.,'inally described by Ciray in the "Proceeding's of the 

 -L Zooi.Dgical Society of London," in 1858, the type bein.i( obtained on one of the Aru 

 Islands. Accordin- to the late Dr. K. H. Sharpe, in the " Catalogue of Birds in the British 

 Museum,"'^ its ultra Australian range also extends to the Duke of York Island, New Guinea, 

 Mysol and Waigiou. On the Australian continent it is an inhabitant of the coastal districts of 

 North-eastern Queensland, from Cape York to the neighbourhood of the Herbert River. The 

 late Mr. J. A. Thorpe and the late Mr. James Cockerell, who were collecting together at Cape 

 York in 1807-8, procured a fine series of skins of this species. Mr. \V. McLennan also obtained 

 it in January, i-,ii, at Paira, Cape York. In the Australian Museum Collection there are also 

 specimens from Cardwell, collected by the late Mv. Kendal Broadbent, and by Dr. E. P. Ramsay 

 and Inspector Robert Johnstone on the Herbert River. 



Mr. Frank Hislop sent me the following notes :—" The Red-necked Kail inhabits the 

 Bloomheld River District, North-eastern Queensland, but it is not very common. It is generally 

 found in the scrub near the bank of a creek, or surrounding a swamp. I heve never found its 

 nest, but when shooting in a swamp one evening I saw a pair of birds with five small young 

 unes." His brother, Mr. Bertie Hislop, informed me that it was tolerably common in the scrubl 

 on the banks of the Endeavour River, behind Cooktown. 



Semi-adult birds resemble fully plumaged birds, but may be distinguished by their having 

 norufescent shade on the upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers, by the reddish-chestnut feathers 

 on the crown of the head, nape and hind-neck having a dusky wash. The centre of the fore-neck 

 and upper breast is brown, without any shade of olive, there is a slight dark greyish tinge to the 

 feathers on the remainder of the under parts, and only the thighs, vent and under taibcoverts 

 are narrowly barred with reddish-bulf. Wing 5-3 inches. 



Much confusion has existed over the eggs of this species. Gould first referred to them as 

 follows in 1869, in his "Supplement to the Birds of Australia:"—! " Mr. Cockerell states that 

 in the neighbourhood of Somerset this bird {Rallina tricoloy) inhabits the dry scrubs which fringe 

 a small stream, and that he once found the nest and eggs, which he says were white; if this be 

 the case it is the only instance known to me of the eggs of the Rail being destitute of colour." 



Dr. E. P. Ramsay, when describing the reddish-chestnut spotted eggs forwarded by Inspector 

 Johnstone, said to belong to this species, made the following remarks:—] " I had informed Mr. 

 Johnstone of my doubts as to the authenticity of the eggs mentioned by Mr. Gould on the 

 authority of Cockerell, who, I have been informed, did not actually take them himself, the eggs 

 in question having been brought to his companion, Mr. J. A. Thorpe, by a blackfellow. I have 

 before me one of these white and so-called Rail's eggs, which I obtained from Mr. Thorpe on 

 his return with Mr. Cockerell from Cape York, and can only say that it is remarkably like that 

 of a Pigeon in every respect." 



Both the late Mr. J. A. Thorpe, and the late Mr. Kendal Broadbent, assured me that the 

 Red-necked Rail laid white eggs, as did Mr. Bertie Jardine, who sent me an egg in July, 1901. 

 It is not safe always to reason by analogy that the eggs of a certain group of birds bear a 

 resemblance to one another. What a surprise it was to the oological world when the eggs of 

 Newton's Bower-bird and the Tooth-billed Bower-bird were found to be respectively a uniform 



• Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. XXIII., p. So (1894). t -Suppl. Eds. Austr rfolTvol., text op^., pLl-iTiSegT^ 



; Proc. Zool. See, 1S73, p. 603. 



