Birds of Celebes: Rallidae. 709 



"Buluwao", Goroiitalo, Joest, Holontalo 1883, 106. 



"Bulo vaha" [Gorontalo Distr.], Rosenb. c 7. 



"Weres", (Rail) Malay, Minahassa, Meyer e 8. 



"Terwowok", Minahassa, Meyer e 8. 



"Sarem wokwok", Minahassa, Guillem. e 15 or "Saring wokkok", Nat. Coll. 



"Prodro", Tjaniba Distr., Platen 2. 



"Marohak", Tagulandang Id., Nat. Coll. 



"Teingkelana", Kabruang, Talaut, Nat. Coll. 



For further synonymy and references cf. Sharp e 7. 



Figures and descriptions. Gould c IV; Forster a I; Reichenbach e J; David & Oustalet 

 e 5; Legge e 9\ Vorderman c .9; Salvadori i 1; Oatesji; Stejneger 4\ Sharps 7. 



Adult male. Upper surface, with sides of neck and of body ohvaceous slaty, browner 

 on back and greater wing-coverts, becoming pure bistre on rump and tail, most slaty 

 on sides of jugulum and of body, with a broad blackish border on the former part; 

 some of the feathers of the back with pale terminal mai'gins; face, including 

 lores and superciliary region, throat and under-parts white, less pure on 

 abdomen, becoming deep cinnamon on flanks and under tail-coverts; under 

 wing-coverts slaty, the inner and longer ones paler, with whitish tips; "iris brown- 

 red; feet yellow; bill yellow - greenish , above and at the base red" (q^, Kema, 

 21. Vn. 93: P. & F. Sarasin). 



Wing 158 mm; tail 58 ca.; tarsus 52 ca. ; mid. toe 67; bill fi-om feathers of 

 forehead 39. 



Female. Similar to the male in coloration. "Wing 147 mm; tail 64; tarsus 53; mid. toe 63; 

 bill 34 (Q, Kema, 28. X. 93: P. & F. Sarasin). 



According to Sharpe the female is slightly smaller than the male. 



Old bird. Legge states that the white encroaches on to the forehead more and more 

 with age; one example in the Dresden Museum — • land of oi'igin unknown — has 

 a white frontlet 9 mm broad. 



Immature. Less slaty, and browner above than the adult, without the black border on the 

 sides of the neck; lores and face dusky, mixed with white (Minahassa: Faber — 

 C 3563;. 



Young. "When first hatched the chick is covered with black down. After leaving the nest, 

 and following the parent, the back becomes edged with pale brownish; a stripe on 

 each side of the chin and the sides of the belly whitish; wing-coverts and breast 

 with faint hght bars; sides of the rump and under tail-coverts i-ufescent" (Legge e 9). 



Eggs. "All the eggs in my collection display in general the Ralline character, nevertheless 

 they differ greatly among themselves. The ground-colour is grey-yellow, with spots 

 of violet, hght grey, and dark brown, which are completely washy in many examples. 

 The measurements are: 41 X 31 mm" (Nehrkorn MS.). See, also, Hume e 18, 

 from whose statements 6 — 8 would appear to be the full complement of eggs (Aitken 

 c 5, Legge e 9, Swinhoe c 2). 



Nest. "Placed between bushes in pools of water" (Celebes — Meyer e 8). ]Mi-. Aitken 

 (c 5) found the bu-d breeding in a nest in a date palm-tree, wliich might have been 

 a Crow's; Mr. Gates says it usually builds in stunted trees in Burmah; it has also 

 been found building floating nests of reeds (e 18). 



Distribution. Almost throughout India (Hume e iSy; Ceylon (Legge e 9); Bm-mah (Oates^ 1); 

 Tenasserim (Davison c6, etc.); Great Coco Id. (Davison 7); South and Central 

 China (Swinhoe e 3, 7, David e 5, Styan cii); Formosa (Swinhoe c2, 7); Cochin 

 China Tierre 7]\ Siam ^Schomburgk rf2. 7, Layard 7); Malay Peninsula (Cantor 7, 



