202 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



more than one-third the length of the tarsus and regularly scutellated in front and 

 behind like the tarsus ; the toes are long ; the middle toe longest equal to the- 

 tarsus, and the hind-toe is very long. 



Coloration brown above with a grey head, white eyebrow, and white below. 



139. Poliolimnas cinereus. WHITE-BROWED CRAKE. 



\Parphyrio cinereus Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., Vol. XXVIII., p. 29, early 1819 : Locv 

 unknown = Java. Extra-limital.] 



Gould, Vol. VI., pi. 81 (pt. xxvin.), Sept. 1st, 1847. Mathews, Vol. I., pt. 4, pi. 54, Aug. 

 9th, 1911. 



Porzana leucophrys Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1847, p. 33, April 27th : Port Essington, 

 Northern Territory. 



Porzana cinerea parryi Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., pt. 3, p. 73, June 28th, 1912 : 

 Parry's Creek, North-west Australia. 



DISTRIBUTION. North-west Australia, Northern Territory, North Queensland. 



Adult male. General colour above dark brown mottled with black, the centres 

 of the feathers being blackish with light olive-brown margins, the blackish centres 

 being indistinct on the mantle, but very distinct on the back and scapulars, less 

 pronounced on the lower back, rump and upper tail-coverts, which become browner ; 

 wing-coverts olive-brown ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts and quills dark sepia- 

 brown, the first primary margined with hoary -white ; the innermost secondaries 

 resembling the scapulars, being blackish, edged with light rufous-brown ; tail- 

 feathers dark brown ; crown of head almost blackish in appearance, and slightly 

 washed with olive-brown on the nape ; lores and feathers around the eye black, with 

 a small supraloral spot of white extending over the fore-part of the eye ; throat 

 white, extending in a line below the eye and above the ear-coverts, which are grey, 

 like the sides of the neck and upper-breast ; abdomen white ; the lower flanks and 

 under tail-coverts sandy -buff ; thighs internally whitish, externally brown ; axillaries. 

 smoky-brown ; under wing-coverts grey, with paler tips, lower primary -co verts 

 and under-surface of quills dusky-brown ; bill red at base, distal half olive-yellow ; 

 feet olive-yellow, the tarsus olive-green ; iris red ; eyelid red. Total length 184 mm. ; 

 culmen 22, wing 95, tail 48, tarsus 33. 



Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 



Young. The young differ from the adult in having only an indication of the 

 marks on the face, in having the crown of the head brown instead of brownish-black, 

 and the sides of the neck and flanks deep buff instead of grey. 



Nestling. Appears to be undescribed. 



Nest. Made of rushes or coarse herbage, lined with grass, and situated among 

 swampy vegetation. 



Eggs. Vary from four to six in number ; are oval or rounded in form, the 

 shell being close-grained, smooth and slightly lustrous. The ground-colour varies 

 from a dull greenish-white to a light yellowish -clay shade, which is almost obscured 

 by innumerable fleecy markings, varying from yellowish-brown to dull chestnut- 

 brown. As a rule the markings are fairly even in size and distributed over the 

 entire surface ; in others they are intermingled with a few large confluent patches ; 

 while in some they are larger and predominate chiefly on the thicker end. Measure- 

 ments 27-28 mm. by 21-22. 



Breeding-season. January to May. 



Distribution and forms. From the Philippine Islands to North Australia and 

 the Pacific Islands ; Collingwood Ingram in 1911 admitted five races, Brasil has 

 since added a sixth, and Mathews a seventh. These are as follows : P. c. cimreus 

 (Vieillot) from Java ; P. c. leucophrys (Gould) from Port Essington, Northern 

 Territory, with an almost black head and dark brown upper coloration, darker below 



