HYPOT^ENIDIA STRIATA. 777 



further to the east it was obtained by Wallace in Celebes. In the Philippine Islands, from where it was first 

 made known and described, it is found in Luzon. 



From the Malay Peninsula it probably extends through Siam to Cochin China, where it was procured by 

 Diard. It inhabits the island of Formosa; and from China Schlegel records it, though Swinhoe does not seem 

 to have met with it on the mainland. 



Habits. — I found the Blue-breasted Rail frequenting thick underwood near the margin of the water 

 surrounding the small islands in the Negombo lake. This fine sheet of water, which is brackish, discharges into 

 the sea a mile from these islands, and the water around them is quite salt. On one occasion I observed the 

 birds feeding on the tidal mud at the edge of the water in the same manner as a Sandpiper, and they allowed 

 me to approach within shot before running up the bank into the scrub. I met with them singly, but I saw 

 two not far from each other. Their stomachs contained tiny mollusca and very small insects. 



Although, as Jerdon says, it frequents marshes and grassy ground by the sides of tanks and rivers, I 

 suspect that it affects jungle-cover rather than moist vegetation ; for Mr. Davison observed that in Tenasserim it 

 confined itself, as " elsewere, to cover in the vicinity of vegetation." Dr. Armstrong merely writes that he saw 

 it in " marshy ground." Mr. Cripps, however, shot two which were walking about a piece of weed-covered water 

 in Sylhetj and doubtless their choice of situation depends on local circumstances. 



Nidification. — In Burmah the present species breeds from July till October. Captain Wardlaw Ramsay 

 found it breeding at Tonghoo during the months of August and September; and Mr. Oates found its nest in 

 July and as late as the 11th of October. The latter gentleman describes the nest as being a "mere pad of 

 soft grass, leaves, and the outer rind of the elephant- grass, about 8 inches in diameter and 1 thick, placed in a 

 tuft of grass, always near water, and raised a few inches above the ground. The coarse grass growing round 

 paddy-fields is a favourite locality." He further says, " the bird sits very closely, and the nest is not easy to 

 discover. The male bird sits on the eggs, at least at times ; and I killed one with a stick while he was sitting 

 on seven eggs." These vary in number from four to seven. " Some are," writes Mr. Oates, " almost glossless, 

 others are considerably glossy. The ground-colour is pinkish stone, pale when fresh, and darkening as 

 incubation proceeds. The shell-markings consist of blotches and splashes of pale purple, evenly but sparingly 

 distributed over the egg ; and the surface-marks consist of large blotches and streaks of rather bright rusty 

 brown. These marks are larger at the thick end than elsewhere, and run chiefly in the direction of the longer 

 axis of the egg. In some eggs the marks form a distinct cap and the shell-marks are very fine. The average 

 size of 31 eggs is 134 by 1-00." 



Mr. Hume observes that eggs sent him by Mr. Cripps from Sylhet, where the bird breeds in May and 

 June, are of the regular Waterhen type, and the ground-colour varied from white to salmon-pink. The 

 markings consisted of " spots, specks, streaks, and blotches of maroon-red, and smaller spots and streaks of 

 dull inky purple or grey." Dimensions T33 to P36 by from T03 to F05 inch. 



