194 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
133. Hypotenidia philippensis—BUFF-BANDED RAIL. 
[Rallus philippensis Linné, Syst. Nat., 12th ed., Vol. I., p. 263, (pref. May 24th) 1766: 
Philippine Islands. Extra-limital.] P es 4 
one, Vol. VI., pl. 76 (pt. xxrv.), Sept. Ist, 1846. Mathews, Vol. I., pt. 4, pl. 47, Aug. 9th, 
Hypotenidia australis Pelzeln, Ibis, Jan. 1873, p. 42: New South Wales. 
Eulabeornis philippensis mellori Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p- 192, Jan. 31st, 1912: 
Sandy Hook Island, South-west Australia. 
Eulabeornis philippensis yorki Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. II., pt. 1, p. 6, Aug. 2nd, 
1913: Cape York, North Queensland. 
DIsTRIBUTION.—Australia generally and Tasmania, 
Adult male-——Head reddish-brown, streaked with black ; superciliary streak 
white, merging into grey behind the eye ; lores and a broad line through the eye 
chestnut, like the hind-neck, to which it is joined ; sides of neck, lower hind-neck, 
and mantle blackish, barred and spotted with white ; back, rump, upper tail-coverts, 
and tail black, broadly edged with ochreous-brown, and a few marginal white spots 
on the upper tail-coverts ; scapulars dark brown, margined with ochreous-brown, 
and spotted with white ; lesser wing-coverts ochreous-brown, with black and white 
spots on the margins of the feathers ; bastard-wing dark brown, barred with rufous 
and white ; primary-coverts and quills dark brown, barred with rufous, some of 
the bars on the two outer primaries white, the innermost secondaries black, with 
rufous and white bars and fringed with ochreous-brown ; throat and fore-neck pale 
grey, darker on the latter ; upper-breast and abdomen banded with narrow black 
and white bars, more broadly on the sides of the body and abdomen, as also the 
axillaries and under wing-coverts ; a band of ochreous-buff across the breast ; 
thighs buffy-white ; under tail-coverts black, barred with white, and tipped with 
sandy-buff ; quills below barred with rufous and brown of almost equal widths, 
the two outer primaries more broadly banded with blackish, and more narrowly 
with white; bill warm brown; feet flesh-red; iris indian-red. Total length, 
335 mm.; culmen 33, wing 153, tail 66, tarsus 39. The wing measurements of 
seventeen birds from the same locality give—the males 143 to 153, the females 
133 to 145. 
Adult female——Similar to the adult male but slightly smaller. 
Young about eleven days old—General appearance sooty-black, with down of a 
hair-like texture. Breast and flanks black, barred with white. Sides of the throat 
and cheeks black, flecked with white. Iris, grey-hazel. 
Nestling —Covered with glossy black down. 
Nest.—Situated near swampy ground and placed in the vegetation. Composed 
of grass and leaves. Egg cavity, 4 inches. 
Eggs.—Clutch, about six. Eggs from the Dawson River, North Queensland, 
are smooth and glossy ; ground-colour creamy or buff, with spots and blotches of 
chestnut-brown over the surface, but more thickly at the larger end ; underlying 
spots and blotches of lilac-grey ; axis, 33 to 36 mm., diameter 24 to 26, 
Breeding-season.—September to February. 
Distribution and forms.—From the Philippine Archipelago southward to the 
Macquarie Islands, eastward to Samoa and Tonga, throughout Australia and west- 
ward to the Cocos Keeling Islands. In 1911 Mathews distinguished twelve sub- 
species, and has since added two more, so that fourteen are here diagnosed : H. p. 
philippensis (Linné) from the Philippine Islands; H. p. australis Pelzeln from 
East Australia, with a decided red hind-neck, smaller bill, shorter tarsus, reddish- 
brown fringes (not ochraceous as in preceding) to feathers on top of head, darker 
upper-surface with more spotting on back, secondaries shorter and wide pale buff 
pectoral band ; average measurements, culmen 30, wing 144, tarsus 39 mm. as 
