38 THE BIEDS OF AUSTRALIA 



Nest generally in the thick herbage growing in a swamp, built 

 of aquatic plants and well hidden in the rushes; the clutch of 

 eggs is from five to eight. They are brownish-olive, faintly 

 mottled over with markings of a darker hue. The eggs measure 

 about 1.11 X .77 inch. 



The Spotless Crake. 



Porzana plumhea (tahuensis) . 



Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Chatham Islands, New Caledonia, 

 New Hebrides, Samoa, Fiji, and Philippine Islands. 



General colour above chocolate brown; first primary whitish on 

 outer edge; sides of face and under surface slaty grey; under tail coverts 

 black, with white bars; iris bright red. Total length 6.3 inches, culmen 

 0.5, wing 3, tail 1.7, tarsus 1.05, middle toe and claw 1.27. Length of 

 female 6.7 inches. 



Nest of fine grass on the ground among thick short vegeta- 

 tion near water. From four to six eggs are laid, greyish-white, 

 lightly mottled with reddish-brown, measuring 1.16 x .9 inch. 



The White-browed Crake. 



Poliolimnas cinereus. 



Malayan Peninsula, Oceania, Buru, Greater and Lesser Sunda, and 

 Northern Australia. 



General colour above olive-brown, with darker centres to the 

 feathers on the back; the first primary white along the outer web; head 

 dark ashy grey, with band of white passing below the eye to above the 

 ear coverts; throat and abdomen pure white; breast and sides of body 

 ashy grey. Total length 7.5 inches, culmen 0.9, wing 3.9, tail 1.85, tarsus 

 1.5, middle toe and claw 2.1. Female, length 6.8 inches. 



Nest on the ground in thick short vegetation about a swamp, 

 and made of grass and rushes; five eggs are generally laid, 

 ground colour cream, closely mottled and blotched all over with 

 brownish markings, much lighter in some clutches than in others, 

 and measure about 1.15 x .89 inch. 



The Rufous-tailed Crake. 



Amaurornis moluccana. 



Moluccas, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, and Northern 

 Australia. 



General colour above and sides dark olive-brown; sides of head and 

 under surface of body slaty grey; lower abdomen buff. Total length 10.8 

 inches, culmen 1.4, wing 5.75, tall 2.2, tarsus 2.2, the middle toe and 

 claw 2.35. 



