1886. J PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 403 



being no buffy red and no white patcli, as in BaUus aquaticus,''^ and 

 adds that he had examined several examples. I hardly know how to 

 explain the statement, for, certainly, the four specimens before me from 

 Japan, and the one from Shanghai, China, agree exiictly with three 

 birds from Europe (England and Germany) so far as the color of the 

 abdomen is concerned, it being in all of them of a reddish bntf, through, 

 which the grayish ground-color is more or less visible, but without even 

 an indication of barring, and the anal buffy patch is even more pro- 

 nounced and more intensive in color than in the European specimens. 

 Mr. Dresser, farther on, says that the Indian form is described as hav- 

 ing "the lower abdomen reddish brown as in the European bird, which 

 is not the case with Ballus japonicus," and because of the absence of the 

 barring on the lower abdomen he regards the Indian and European 

 birds conspecific and different from the Japanese. Is it possible that 

 there is another form of Eallus in Japan, having the abdomen barred? 

 This does not seem quite probable, although Mr. Dresser's description 

 certainly indicates such a possibility. At any rate, it will be well to be 

 on the lookout for this mysterious bird. 



While thus the Japanese Water Rails before me agree with their 

 European representatives in the color of the abdomen, there are other 

 characters which clearly separate the two forms, I find the following 

 differences : 



(1) In the eastern form the under tail-coverts {not the crisHum tvMch 

 is barred icitli Mack in both forms) are all heavily spotted with black, so 

 as to externally show more black than white, while in E. aquaticus 

 proper the under tail-coverts are entirely white, sometimes with a few 

 concealed black spots. 



(2) In the eastern birds the dusky color of the lores is deeper, nearly 

 black, extends farther down and behind, forming a distinct subocular 

 streak, and joining a well-defined brown auricular patch slightly mot- 

 tled with dusky and clearly set off from the surrounding gray of the 

 sides of the head. 



(3) This form also has the breast strongly suffused with brown, of 

 which but slight traces are seen in the European bird, and on the fianks 

 and axillaries the white bands appear narrower, and the black spaces 

 between them, consequently, broader. 



There is no appreciable difference in size as evidenced by the sub- 

 joined table of measurements. 



The specimen from China (No. 85753) agrees so minutely with those 

 from Japan that there can be no doubt as to their identity, and the 

 descriptions of the Indian birds by Blyth and Jerdon indicate a form 

 which has all the features by which the Japanese is distinguishable 

 from the European form. In further corroboration of the correctness 

 of identifying the Japanese birds as B. indicus I may remark that Blyth 

 himself referred specimens in the Leydeu Museum, from Japan, to the 



