On the Rallus sulcirostris of Wallace and its Allies. 309 
and almost obsolete. Length 54 to 6 inches, wing 33; tail 
a mere “fluff” of feathers; nails very long and sharp- 
pointed. The natives call this bird by a different name to 
that they give the large Megapode, and look upon it as a 
distinct bird. 
From Marau Sound we proceeded to Sydney, passing 
within 150 miles of Noumea. I spent a short time there, 
and finally reached home after eight months’ absence. 
XXIX.—WNofe on the Rallus sulcirostris of Wallace and its 
Allies. By P. L. Scuarer. 
(Plate VI.) 
In consequence of some remarks kindly communicated to 
me by Count Salvadori in reference to my recently described 
Rallus insignis (PR. Z. 8. 1880, p. 66, pl. vil.), my attention 
has been directed to Rallus sulcirostris of Wallace, and I 
have been led to examine the typical examples of this species 
in the British Museum. A few short notes on this little- 
known Rail and its relatives may not be unacceptable to 
ornithologists. 
Railus sulcirostris was described by Mr. Wallace in 1862 
(P. Z. 8. p. 345), in his memoir on the birds of the Sula Islands, 
as “very near R. celebensis, perhaps only a variety of that 
species; the chin and throat are, however, generally black, 
or but slightly irrorated with white; the bill is decidedly 
longer and less elevated in proportion at the base ; the nasal 
furrow is longer, and the nostrils longer and linear; on the 
sides of the lower mandible is a furrow reaching half the 
length of the bill.”’ 
Schlegel, in 1865 (Mus. des P.-B., Ralli, p. 22), according 
to his usual practice when the Leyden Museum does not pos- 
sess an example of a species, refers Rallus sulcirostris to 
Rallus (Hypotenidia) celebensis, and commits the additional 
error of giving its locality as “‘ Bouru,” not the Sula Islands. 
The species does not appear to be again mentioned until 
1875, when Count Salvadori, in his article upon Beceari’s and 
