350 Capt. Hutton on Rallus modestus of New Zealand. 



I labour under the difficulty of never having seen the spe- 

 cimen of R. dieffenbachii ; but I presume that it is closely 

 allied to R. philippensis — in fact, that it represents that bird 

 in the Chatham Islands. I judge so from both species having 

 been put into the same subgenus (Hi/potcenidia), from both 

 being of about the same size, and from both having the colour- 

 ing similar in style, and nearly so in tint ; in fact so similar 

 are they that it appears to me doubtful whether R. dieffen- 

 bachii should be retained as a distinct species. Now Rallus 

 modestus belongs to a different subgenus (or genus, as I 

 should prefer to call it) from R. philippensis, and approaches 

 more nearly to the true type of Rallus as exhibited by R. aqua- 

 tic us, although it differs from that bird also sufficiently to 

 form at least another subgenus. The bill is rather stronger 

 than in R. aquaticus, and more arched ; the nostrils are oval, 

 and placed in the middle of the groove, instead of being linear 

 and subbasal. The wings are very short, with only about 

 fourteen remiges, the inner of which are very small, soft, and 

 downy, while the outer webs of the outer quills are as soft as 

 the inner webs, as in Ocydromus ; the fourth and fifth quills 

 are the longest, and the first is nearly as long as the second. 

 The thumb is very long and carries a small compressed claw 

 at the end, which is shaped like the claws on the toes. The 

 inner toe is nearly as long as the outer ; the hind toe is short, 

 very slender, and placed on the inner side of the tarsus ; the 

 claws are short, compressed, and blunt; the tongue is long, 

 narrow, and fringed at the tip. 



From R. philippensis it differs still more, as the following 

 table of measurements will show : — 



