696 Birds of Celebes: Eallidae. 



Nest. In swampy ground, usually of debris from floods, about 23 cm diam., slightly hollowed 

 (North 16). 



Distribution. Philippines — Luzon (Everett 7, d 1, Whitehead 20); Celebes — Minahassa 

 (Forsten 2, Meyer 9, etc.); Gorontalo Distr. (Ros. 2, Riedel 14, etc.); Kandari, 

 S. E. Cel. (Beccari 6); Macassar (Wallace d 1); Bulekomba, S. Cel. (Everett 

 21); Direction Id., W. of Borneo (H. O. Forbes a 5); Cocos Is. (H. O. Forbes a 6); 

 Timor (Wallace 11, d 1); Moluccas — Biu'u, Goram, Koor (cf. Salvadori 11); 

 Papuasia — New Britain, Duke of York, New Ireland, Solomon Is. (fide Salvad. 11); 

 Is. of Torres Str. (Macgillivray, etc. 11, d 1); Australia — known almost throughout 

 (Ramsay 15); New Zealand (Buller a VII); W. groups of Polynesia — Marianne 

 and Pelew Is., New Caledonia, Loj'alty Is., New Hebrides, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga 

 (fide Wiglesw. a 8); Mauritius (A. & E. Newton b 6). 



In the wide geographical range of this Rail many gaps are seen, the 

 majority of which may well be filled np by collectors in course of time; in the 

 Philippines, for instance, the only definite locality known to Major Wardlaw 

 Ramsay in 1881 was Luzon, where the bird was found by Mr. Everett, and 

 later by Mr. Whitehead and, so far as we know, it has not yet been discovered 

 elsewhere in the group; in the Moluccas Count Salvadori records it from three 

 islands only, and not at all from New Guinea. It occurs in New Zealand, 

 where it seems to be on the increase, and, if the Pacific Rail of Latham is 

 the same, which is doubtful, it was met with in Tahiti by the naturalists ac- 

 companying Cook. It has also been encountered far out at sea: on a journey 

 from Sydney to Samoa, many miles east of the Australian coast, one settled on 

 board the ship on which Dr. Graffe was travelling, so tired that it could be 

 captured by hand. This may be the specimen in the Leyden Museum taken 

 more than 300 miles (100 lieues) from the coast of Australia in the Godeffroy 

 Expeditions. At least one example has reached Mauritius {b 6, Diet, of Birds 

 1894, 764). 



Considering that it sometimes makes such great journeys, it is no wonder 

 that ornithologists working with plenty of specimens have found it impossible 

 to establish any constant racial differences. Some amount of local variation un- 

 doubtedly exists, however; Dr. Sharpe remarks that "the large majority of Aus- 

 tralian birds possess a broad praepectoral band [of cinnamon-buff], and I have 

 never seen a single specimen which had absolutely lost all trace of the orange, 

 as is the case with the majority of the Philippine and Fijian specimens". We 

 take it that the Celebesian, Philippine and Fijian birds are somewhat more 

 advanced in development than the Australian and New Zealand ones, since the 

 pectoral band is better developed in young than in adult examples of the first- 

 named — a reason why Australia should be the original home of the species, 

 for emigrants are likely to become most changed. 



A race of this Rail, H. macquariensis Hutton, with the back almost un- 

 spotted, occurs on Macquarie Island. H. striata is easily distinguishable by its 

 wanting the long pale grey stripe over the eyes and ear-coverts, by its plum- 

 beous face, jugulum and breast, by its dusky remiges narrowly barred or notched 



