42 A. von Pelzeln on Birds in 



Hab. Philippine Islands (Brisson) ; Marianne Isl., Guam 

 {Quoy et Gaim.). 



A nearly allied but distinct species is represented by the 

 bird designated by most authors, and formerly also by me in 

 the Ornithology of the ' Novara/ as Rallus pectoralis, Cuvier. 

 Pucheran has already shown (Rev. de Zool. 1851, 277) that 

 Cuvier's and Lesson's bird (= Rallus br achy pus (Swains.)) is 

 very different from that introduced by Gould under this 

 name ; and I would therefore propose for the latter species 

 the name " australis," on account of its habitat. 



H. australis is in coloration very similar to H. philippensis, 

 but even in the young bird marked with a buff collar ; it has 

 longer wings than H. philippensis, absolutely or comparatively 

 shorter tarsi, and the tertiaries are considerably shorter than 

 the primaries. The dimensions of the specimens in our Mu- 

 seum are the following : — 



* The feathers probahly have rot attained their full length. 



t Perhaps not fully grown. 



X This specimen, purchased from M. Parreyss in 1833, is evidently very 

 young : the wings are very short, the upper mandible is dusky, the colours 

 are similar to those of the old bird ; but the red of the nape and the white 

 spots of the back appear little developed, the buff collar is pale, but 

 broader, as in adidt individuals. Whether the birds enumerated by Schlegel 

 from the Philippines ( Cuming) and from Celebes (Forsten et Rosenberg'), 

 and in like manner Rallina philippensis, Wallace (P. Z. S. 1863, p. 36), 

 from Bourou and the islands eastward, belong to this or the foregoing 

 species, I cannot decide. 



It is also doubtful to what species the birds mentioned as Rallus phi- 

 lippensis, found on the Keeling or Cocos Atoll, in the Indian Ocean (Gould, 

 Voy. Beagle, p. 33), are to be referred. 



