218 UALUUJE. 



yrfiy ; /oiri r /ln/i/is iuh/ inn/ir linl-riirini:< jiiili' laiil/i'lliui'-i'a/oiis : "ii/i/ifir iiuiii(lilih- rcildislihnnmi, 

 towiii (IT culliiiij eili/fi (if liiith iiinii(/il>lis tiJe-ri'i/ ; leys ninl fn-t tid-yreKii, blolclnil imlli li(/lif ash 

 coloitr" (Gould). Total. h'liijlJi / inc/iis, iciiiy .IS, tail ,.', hill 0'9, lar.fus !■'). 



Al)Ul/r KHMAI.lv — Suiiihir in. /iliunin/i' ta flu' hutlc. 



iJisti'ihiilioji. — N or t hern 'J'eiiitory, Oueenslaiui. 

 /T^llli present species may easily be distinguished from any other Water Crake inhabiting 

 -1- Australia by its conspicuous white eyebrow, black loral patch, and its long tarsi. It 

 inhabits Northern (jueensland and the Northern Territory, its ultra .\ustralian range e.xtend- 

 ing, among other islands, to New Guinea, New Biitain, Samoa, Fiji, Java, Timor, Celebes, 

 Borneo, the Pliilippines and the Malayan Peninsula. The type was described by Vieillot 

 in 1819, under the name of J'orpliyi'io cincrcus. Subsequently it was described by Horsfield in 

 1821, under the name of h'a/liis (juadrhtrii^atni. From specimens obtained at Port Essington, 

 Gould characterised it in the " Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London," in 1847, under 

 the name of Forzaiia laicophrys, and also figured it in his " Birds of Australia " in the following 

 year, where he refers to it as follows: — "This species is an inhabitant of the northern parts of 

 Australia, where it frequents the thick clumps of Mangrove roots bordering the lakes. It is a 

 somewhat familiar bird, and is but little disturbed by the approach of an intruder; on the 

 contrary, it will hequently run up a branch, turn round, gaze at him, and utter its very singular 

 loud and chattering ' cutche, cutche,' with but little apparent alarm. Occasionally several are 

 heard in chorus, as if attempting to e.xcel each other in noise. It is by no means difticult to 

 obtain specimens, except when the water is too deep to admit of wading round the roots of the 

 Mangroves. .As yet it has been only observed on one lal;e near Port Fssington, but as the 

 natives are perfectly acquainted with it, it is doubtless abundant in some other part of Coburg 

 Peninsula. It is also found in Java, and I believe in se\eral of the islands of the Indian Ocean. 

 'J"he stomachs of those dissected were muscular, and contained the remains of insects of various 

 kinds, and a large proportion of sand. The bird also eats worms, slugs and the leaves of atjuatic 

 plants; these foods are obtained either in the marshes or while swinnning, which it can do as 

 perfectly as the Moor lien, Gallinule and little Porzamr." 



Mr. ). .\. Boyd, while resident at Ripple Creek, Herbert Kiver, North-eastern (Queensland, 

 sent me the following note : — " (_)n the ist February, 1894, ^ found a nest of Eiytlira quadrisiri- 

 gntii. It was on the ground, formed of coarse grasses and lined with finer material, and contained 

 three eggs." 



The eggs, which vary from tiiree and four to six in number for a sitting, are oval, rounded 

 oval or an ellipse in form, the shell being close-grained, smooth and slightly lustrous. The 

 ground colour varies from a dull greenish-white to a light yellowish-clay shade, which is almost 

 obscured by innumerable tieecy markings, or fine, short, longitudinal streaks of dull chestnut- 

 brown, and on some specimens with yellowish-brown; but t!ie former is the most connnon 

 variety found. As a rule the markings are fairly e\'en in size, and distributed over the entire 

 surface; in others they are intermingled with a few large patches of the same colour as the 

 fleecy or streaky markings, while in a few instances they are larger and predominate on one end. 

 A set of three heavily incubated eggs, taken by Mr. J. A. Boyd at Ripple Creek, Herbert River, 

 North-eastern Queensland, on the ist February, 1894, measures: — Length (.\) 1-17 x o-<S5 

 inches; (I^) i-i6 x 0-83 inches; (C) 1-09 x o-86 inches. A set of four talcen on the 20th 

 February, 1902, near the Daly River, in the Northern Territory, measures: — Length (A) i-ii 

 X o-g inches; (I!) i-i x o-S7 inclies; (C) rii x 0-87 inches; (D) 1-07 x 0-83 inches. 

 A skin of the bird, shot at the nest, was sent with these eggs. A set of six eggs in the 

 collection of Mr. Chas. French, Junr., talcen in the same locality on the 21st January, 1902, 

 measures: — Length (A) fi3 x 0-87 niches; (B) fi3 x 0-85 inches; (C) i-ii x o'85 inches; 

 (D) i-i6 X 0-86 inches; (E) 1-13 x o'85 inches ; (F) fi3 x 0-85 inches. 



