76 MANUAL OF PHILIPPINE BIRDS. 
bill sea-green; legs dirty yellow; nails brown. Length of a male from 
Bohol, 330; wing, 175; tail, 6ag#culmen from base, 37; tarsus, 65; 
middle toe with claw, 70. Length of a male from Calayan, 305; wing, 
178; tail, 57; culmen from base, 41; tarsus, 69; middle toe with claw, 
73. A female from Mindoro, May 6, 1905, measures: Length, 290; wing, 
165; tail, 53; culmen from base, 37; tarsus, 57; middle toe with claw, 64. 
“A common bird, snared in abundance by the natives. ‘'T'wo sets of 
eggs were obtained by us in Siquijor. ‘The nest was in each case placed 
on a slight elevation, and was a mere heap of dried leaves and grasses. 
The ground-color of the eggs is rather a rich creamy buff. They are 
heavily blotched and spotted with a rich lght chocolate-brown, the 
blotches being more numerous at the larger end, where they are often 
confluent. A few inconspicuous lilac markings are also present. The 
eggs measure from 40.6 to 43 in length, and from 29 to 32 in greatest 
breadth.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.) 
Oates describes two eggs collected in Siquijor in February by the 
Steere Expedition. ‘The eggs of the Philippine crake are of a broad 
oval form, and they have but little gloss. The ground is creamy white, 
and this is spotted, streaked, and blotched, more thickly at the larger end 
than elsewhere, with reddish brown and underlying pale purple. ‘Two 
examples measure respectively 41.9 by 30.9; 39.3 by 28.7.” 
A nest of this species found at Balete, Mindoro, was well hidden in 
a clump of saw-grass. It was very weakly made of dry grass and had a 
deep cup. The single egg was heavily incubated when taken on May 20, 
It measures 41.6 by 30.9 mm. The ground-color is pale creamy white. 
Small spots and fine dots of reddish brown are scattered over the whole 
shell, but more numerously on the larger end where there are also two 
large blotches of lavender. A few small lavender dots are scattered over 
the entire surface. 
68. AMAURORNIS PHCENICURA (Pennant). 
WHITE-BREASTED WATERHEN, 
Gallinula phenicurus PENNANT, Ind. Zool. (1769), 10, pl. 9. 
Amaurornis phenicura SHARPE, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1894), 23, 156; 
Hand-List (1899), 1, 106; OaTEs, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1901), 1, 121, pl. 
9, fig. 5. 
Amaurornis phenicura BLANFoRD, Fauna Brit. Ind. Birds (1898), 4, 173, 
fig. 36 (head). 
Amauronis phoenicura McGrecor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 18 
(error). 
Sally-quawk, im general use. 
Basilan (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Bongao 
(Everett) ; Cagayan Sulu (McGregor) ; Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester) ; Cebu 
(McGregor) ; Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Mindanao (Everett, Martens, Koch & 
Schadenberg, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester, 
