776 HYPOTJENIDIA STRIATA. 



portions only olive ; the ferruginous colour of the head is darker than in Indian specimens, and is more extensively 

 marked with black on the nape ; the slaty colour of the breast is also purer in tint than in Indian birds. These 

 examples are from the islands of Cebu and Leyte. A Javan specimen in the national collection has the head, 

 back of neck, and upper surface as in Ceylonese birds ; but the slate-colour of the fore neck descends further upon 

 the breast : the amount of white on the throat is the same. A Rangoon example of Captain Wardlaw Eamsaj 's 

 has the upper surface like that of my specimens, but the head and hind neck are darker in tint. A Banjermassing 

 skin is almost identical with a Ceylouese, but the markings of the under 'tail-coverts are more buff. Malaccan skins 

 are likewise very similar. 



There is considerable variation in the bills, both as to length and proportionate thickness ; but those of females, which 

 are smaller birds, are constantly of less size than in the males. 



The Andaman race (H. obscuriora) has been separated on account of its large size and darker colours. Mr. Hume 

 gives the wing-measurement (Str. Feath. 1S74, p. 302) as 5-4 to 5-5. Two examples in Captain Wardlaw Ramsay's 

 collection from S. Andaman measure (?) 5-2 inches, ( c? ) 5-5 in the wing, and 1'7, 1-8 in the bill from the gape 

 They are certainly much darker than Indian, Ceylonese, and Burman skins, but scarcely darker than a skin from 

 Cebu ; and the difference is owing simply to the black, which is a little more intense and spreads more over the 

 feather. The ferruginous tints of the head and hind neck are certainly darker than iu continental specimens : but 

 the same is the case in the Philippine birds. It is at best a very closely allied race. 



Gray includes 13 species of these short and stout-billed forms of Rallus in his 'Hand-list,' chiefly from Malaya and 

 the Pacific islands. 



//. pectoralis (Cuv.), from the Pacific islands and Australia, is somewhat similar to the present, but has more black on 

 the head, a white supercilium, and there is a broad fulvous band (its chief characteristic) across the chest: the 

 chest is very pale blue-grey, and the under surface is more boldly barred than in II. striata. A iSamoan example 

 measures 5 - 3 inches in the wing. 



H. torquata is peculiar to the Philippines : and another species found there, H. philippensis, extends to Celebes, 

 Australia, and New Zealand. 



Distribution. — This handsome Rail is a rare bird in Ceylon, and is, I should say, very local in its habitat. 

 Layard met with it at Pt. Pedro, where a living example was brought to him ; he also received it from the 

 Batticaloa district. I have myself only met with it in the neighbourhood of Negorubo, where I found it 

 frequenting the small scrub-covered islands at the head of the lake, and near the canal in the swamp of 

 Mutturajawella. The taxidermist of the Colombo Museum, Mr. Hart, lias, I believe, also met with it in the 

 Western Province. I am inclined to think that it is migratory, as I have not seen it at any other season than 

 during the north-cast monsoon. 



In the south of India, Mr. Davison procured it at Kotagherry, in the Nilghiris, but it does not appear 

 to be common in the south. Jerdon, however, affirms that "it is found throughout India, from the 



extreme south to the Himalayas and the Punjab, especially in the cold weather It is rare," he savs, 



" in the Camatic and Deccan." It is not recorded by either Messrs. Bourdillon, Fairbank, Ball, or Butler 

 from any of the districts aforementioned in this work ; and there is no reason, I think, to infer that it extends 

 towards the north-west of the empire, as its distribution is manifestly easterly. In Lower Bengal it is 

 not uncommon ; and we find Mr. Hume recording it as being brought into the Calcutta market in the cool 

 season. At Sylhet, in the north-east corner of the Presidency, Mr. Cripps found it common in May and June. 

 Eastward of the bay it appears to be locally distributed, but perhaps, on the whole, more numerous than in 

 India. In Upper Pegu Mr. Oates did not meet with it, but had a specimen sent to him which was shot near 

 Prome ; but in Lower Pegu it is common, he says. At Rangoon and Tonghoo Captain Wardlaw Ramsay like- 

 wise affirms it to be pleutiful ; but Dr. Armstrong only saw it in the vicinity of Syriam. Further south in 

 Tenasserim, Mr. Davison observes that it is sparingly diffused over the more level and open tracts of the 

 central and northern portions of the province. 



From the Malay region it has more than once been recorded ; in the list of the birds of the western half 

 of the peninsula we find it noted from "Malacca, Nealys, and Singapore." In Java it is probably not 

 uncommon ; Professor Schlcgel records several examples from that island in the Leydeu Museum. It was 

 obtained there both by Horsfield and Boie. In Sumatra Raffles procured it ; and in Borneo it has been 

 obtained at Banjermassing by Mottley, and at Sarawak by Doria and Beccari. Everett shot it in Marup; and 



