Birds of Celebes: Rallidae. 7O7 



Nest. A loose, flat basin of rush-leaves, lined with fine grasses: 7 cm diam., 3.5 cm in depth; 

 found on the ground. A second nest was built of the leaves of rice-straw (Kutter 

 ill, after examples obtained by Grabowsky in Borneo). 



Distribution. Malacca (Maingay 12], Penang (Cantor 12), Singapore (Davison 12, f 4, 

 Kelham f 5); Sumatra (Klaesi i 13, Modigl. i 20); Java (Horsfield b 1, Boie 

 fl, etc.); Borneo (Grabowsky i 9, ill, Breitenstein, Everett i 14); Phihppines 

 — Luzon, Guimaras, Panay, IVIindoro, Oebu, Negros, Dinagat, Leyte, Siquijor, Marin- 

 duque, Mindanao, Basilan (Everett i 5, Steere il5, Bourns & Worcester I 5); 

 Talaut — Karkellang, Kabruang and Salibabu (Nat. Coll. in Dresden Mus. i 23); 

 Celebes — Minahassa (Meyer i 6, Fischer i 4, etc.), Gorontalo Distr. (Forsten f 1, 

 V. Rosenberg f 1, etc.), Macassar (Weber i 22); Djampea (Everett 14); Timor 

 (Wallace i 2, I 2); Moluccas — Buru (H. 0. Forbes I 2), Hahnahera (Bernstein 

 fl, i 7), Amboina (Roedt f 1, i 7); Papuasia — Kei, New Guinea, Duke of York 

 (fide Salvadori i 7), New Britain (Kubary / 19); Is. of Torres Straits (Macgillivray 

 i 7); North AustraUa and Queensland (Gould d I, g 1, Ramsay f 7); Polynesia — 

 Pelew Is., Carohne Is., New Caledonia, Loyalty Is., New Hebrides, Fiji Is., Samoa Is. 

 (f. Finsch & Hartlaub h 2, Wiglesw. * 21). 



This little Water-crake ranges over a vast area — from Penang to Queens- 

 land, and from the Philippines to Samoa, but no local races of it are known, 

 unless it be that Bornean birds are a trifle smaller than Celebesian ones, as is 

 inferred by W. Blasius, and Philippine birds greyer on the breast, as is re- 

 marked by Sharp e. Salvadori points out that its range may be compared 

 to that of Hypotaenidia philippensis, though that species does not occur quite so 

 far west, nor, it may be added, A. cinerea so far south in Australia and Poly- 

 nesia; for instance, it is not known from New Zealand. Like H. philippensis 

 it has undoubtedly extended its range by flight; it swims well, and has for a 

 Rail well developed wings, though Kelham (f 5) describes it as having the 

 habit of flying for fifty yards with a weak flight, trailing its legs behind it, 

 then dropping and skulking. To what country or island it may have originally 

 belonged, it is unprofitable to hazard a guess. 



It is a very distinct species, easily distinguished from Porzana (Ortygometra) 

 by its having the culmen and sides of the maxilla much thickened at the base, 

 and by its very long toes, especially the hallux. It may be termed a small 

 edition of Amaurornis phoeniciira (Penn. which occurs in many localities in 

 common with it; A. phoenicura may be distinguished by its great size, its browni?'i 

 slaty upper surface and sides, its white face, throat and breast. 



Mr. Layard and his son. Mr. E. L. C. Layard, describe it as inhabiting 

 grassy swamps in New Caledonia, where it swims and dives with facility. 

 Lieutenant Kelham found it plentiful in the deepest part of the inodorous, 

 swampy grass-fields near Singapore: "nearly every bush held one". In Australia 

 Gould describes it as a somewhat familiar bird: "it will frequently run up a 

 branch, turn round, gaze at the intruder, and utter its very singular loud and 

 chattering cutche, cutche, with but little apparent alarm". Gould found 

 its food to be insects, worms, slugs, leaves of aquatic plants, obtained either in 



89* 



