EALLTJS INDICUS. 779 



Immature. The Japanese (Hakodadi) bird kindly lent to me by Mr. Seebobm presents the appearance of an immature 

 bird, as it has the same character as examples of the European species which are not fully adult, namelv, the 

 outer series of wing-covert feathers barred with white ; they are much more conspicuously marked than in an 

 Essex skin of R. aquaticus before me, and the white bars are set off with black borders. 



The Bengal bird is paler than the Japanese, and, judging by the wing-coverts, is au older bird, for they are marked with 

 only a few bars of white ; the chest and breast-feathers, however, are tipped with white, and in some places tinged 

 with brown ; the under tail-coverts are black, bauded with white. 



I look upon the present species as a well-marked eastern race of the European "Water-Bail. Its describer, Blyth, 

 separated it from the latter on account of its larger size, stouter bill, the stripe under the eye, and the different 

 tint of the blue-grey. The first character scarcely holds good, I think, as the bill in the European bird varies : an 

 example from Essex in my collection measures from forehead to tip 1-39, height at base 0-28 ; another fine male 

 in the flesh now before me measures in the same way 1-63 and 0-4 inch. The remaining dimensions of the 

 latter are — tail 2-3 inches, tarsus 1-7, middle toe l - 8 : the difference in size, therefore, is only perceptible in the 

 wing, as far as I can judge by the material at my disposal. Jerdon's dimensions are — length \0k inches, wing 

 4-5 to 5-0, tail 2'0, tarsus l - 75, bill at front 1-5. The stripe seems to be a good character, as also the different 

 colour of the face, fore neck, and chest, which are fine blue-grey (an altogether darker colour) in R. aquaticus. 

 A further distinction, however, lies in the tint of the pale portion of the upper plumage, which is dull olive in 

 R. aquaticus, and yellowish olive in R. indicus, although Asiatic specimens of the former seem to have the 

 margins of the feathers yellower than European. The under tail-coverts are nearly all white in the European 

 bird, whereas in the Indian they are black, margined with white. 



Distribution. — The Ceylonese habitat of this Rail rests on the evidence of several examples which were 

 procured at Jayelle by Lieut. Long, of the Ceylon Rifles, and given to Layard. They are referred to by this 

 naturalist as follows : — " Three or four of these Rails were shot in the Jayelle paddy-fields, near Colombo, 

 by Lieut. Long, of H.M. Ceylon Rifle Regiment, to whom I am indebted for these and several other interesting 

 specimens." I infer that they were all procured at the same time, and during the cool season, as the species 

 must, of course, be migratory to Ceylon, and as it is only at that period that this locality, which is about 14 

 miles out of Colombo, on the Negombo road, is resorted to by sportsmen. 



In India it is scarce, as we do not find any mention of it by the numerous contributors to ' Stray 

 Feathers' since the commencement of the journal in 1873. Jerdon writes of it : — "It appears to be rather a 

 rare bird in Central and Southern India, and has chiefly been found during the cold season, being probably 



migratory, like some of the other Rails I have only seen it myself in Northern India; and Adams says 



that it is common in the Punjab." It is one of the species which Mr. Hume has noticed in the Calcutta 

 market, with the remark that P. akool is rarer than it. Blyth notices two specimens in his catalogue, both 

 procured near Calcutta, and says (' Ibis/ 1873) that he has seen dozens from Lower Bengal. 



I do not find that it has been noticed by any one in the Burmese countries; but, notwithstanding, Swinhoe 

 records it from China on the evidence of examples procured at Tientsin. This author likewise records a 

 specimen from Hakodadi in Japan ; and in their catalogue of the birds of these islands, Messrs. Blakiston and 

 Pryer observe that it is a very common bird on banks of streams and ponds, is migratory to Yezo, and breeds 

 about Yokohama. The localities they record it from are Yezo, Tokio, Yokohama, and Oyama in Legami. The 

 Water-Rails procured by Dr. Scully in Kashgar are identified as R. aquaticus, which proves that the Indian 

 species ranges only to the north-east of the empire, and is replaced to the north-west by the European bird, 

 which, according to Blyth, has been sent to Mr. Gould from India ; and which is doubtfully included by Hume 

 in his recent list of Indian birds, not having been met with by any collectors of late years. 



Habits. — In its economy the Indian "Water-Rail does not differ from its European and Western-Asian 

 ally, which it so closely resembles. Jerdon remarks that it frequents marshy ground, generally in rather thick 

 covert. The locality which it seems to have chosen to frequent in Ceylon is eminently adapted to its habits. 

 The Jayelle paddy-fields (a great resort for Snipe) are situated at the northern extremity of the great 

 Mutturajawella swamp, and consist in parts of rushy morasses, in which the Water-Rail would find ample 

 shelter and food. Its European relative frequents the rushy, sedgy borders of streams, and runs through the 

 thick vegetation in a crouching position, with its neck stretched out, looking more like a rat than a bird. It 



5h 



