194 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



133. Hypotanidia philippensis. BUFF-BANDED RAIL. 



[Rallus philippensis Linne, Syst. Nat, 12th ed., Vol. L. p. 263, (pref. May 24th) 1766 : 



PhiUppine Islands. Extra-limital.] 



Gould, Vol. VI., P l. 76 ( P t. xxiv.), Sept. 1st, 1846. Mathews, Vol. L, pt. 4, pi. 47, Aug. 9th. 



1911.' 



HypotcenidiaaustralisPelzete.IbK.J**. 1873, p. 42 : New South Wales 



Eltabeornis philippensis mellori Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIIL, p. 192, Jan. 31st. 1! 



|L Av. Rec., Vol. II., p, 1, p. 6. Aug. 2nd, 



1913 : Cape York, North Queensland. 



DISTMBUTION. Australia generally and Tasmania. 



Adult TOofc.-Head reddish-brown, streaked with black ; superciliary streak 

 whitf merging into grey behind the eye ; lores and a broad Ime through the eye 

 chestnut like the hind-neck, to which it is joined ; sides of neck, lower hind-neck, 

 and mltle blackish, barred and spotted with white ; back, rump, upper ^overte 

 d tail black broadly edged with ochreous-brown, and a few marginal wlnte spots 

 on tte upper teil-cov y erts scapular* dark brown, margined with ^hreous-trown 

 and spotted with white ; lesser wing-coverts ochreous-brown, th blacl L*f * h '* 

 spots on the margins of the feathers ; bastard-wing dark brown barred with 

 and white primary-coverts and quills dark brown, barred with rufous, some of 

 the bW on tnTtwI outer primaries white ^T^^^rTtdl^k mle 

 rufous and white bars and fringed with ochreous-brown ; throat and lore-neck p 

 grev darker on the latter ; upper-breast and abdomen banded with narrow black 

 fnd wWte bars, more broadly on the sides of the body and abdomen as also the 

 axillarierand under wing-coverts ; a band of ochreous-buff across the breast; 

 SbuffXbJte; under tail-coverts black, barred with white, and t.pped with 

 ndv-bufi quills below barred with rufous and brown of almost equal widths, 

 the two oute primaries more broadly banded with blackish, and more narrowly 

 with white bill warm brown ; feet flesh-red ; iris indian-red. Total length 

 3^5 mm ; culmen 33, wing 153, teil 66, tarsus 39. The wing *^ m ^ of 

 seventeen birds from the same locality give-the males 143 to 153, the female, 



133 ^f/emofe.-Similar to the adult male but slightly smaller. 



Young about eleven fays oH.-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. 



J^^r2^r2d ^placed in the vegetation. Compo^ 



f *S'<3g r^Sm'the Dawson River, North Queensland 

 are smooth and glossy ; ground-colour creamy or buff, with spots and blotches of 

 Testnut bro^n oVer 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 /orL.-From the Philippine Arch,pelago 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- 

 soecies and has since added two more, so that fourteen are here diagnosed : H. 

 <Bw* (Linne) from the Philippine Islands ; H p awtralu Pekeln torn 

 East Australia, with a decided red hind-neck, smaller tall, shorter **".*** 

 brown fringes (not ochraceous as in preceding) to feathers on top of J^d darker 

 upper-surface with more spotting on back, secondaries shorter and wide ^ buff 

 pectoral band ; average measurements, culmen 30, wing 144, tarsus 39 



