SYNffiCUS. EXCALFACIOEIA. 47 



Gould, Handb. B. Austr. ii. p. 193 (1866) ; Campbell, Nests ^ Eggs 

 Austr. Birds, p. 51 (1883) ; North, Nests ^ Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 289 

 (1889). 

 Syncecus australis, Orant, Cat. Birds B. M. xxii. p. 247 (1893) ; Sharps, 

 Sand-l. i. p. 31 (1899). 



The eggs of 'the Australian Swamp-Quail vary much, in size and 

 colour, and no two clutches resemble each other. They are nor- 

 mally broad ovals, with one end much pointed. Some are white, 

 occasionally marked with a few very tiny dark scattered dots; 

 others are creamy white, some thickly, some sparingly, freckled and 

 occasionally blotched with pale grey ; others again are a dull pale 

 stone-colour or greenish white, much speckled with rufous or brown. 

 A specimen from Tasmania is of this latter character, being of a pale 

 stone-colour with very numerous dots aU over the shell, but it is 

 fully twice the size of any other egg of this species in the Collec- 

 tion. The following are the average dimensions of the eggs of this 

 bird from various localities : 



Port Essington 1-15 by -9 



Moreton Bay 1"3 by "95 



Tasmania 1'45 by 1-05. 



1. AastraMa, (Capt. Stanley). Voy. H.M.S. ' Rattlesnake.' 

 8. Australia. Gould Coll. 



2. Australia. Gould Coll. 



1. Baudin Island, N. W. Australia, July. Lieut, G. Ohver [P,]. 



6. New South Wales. Gould Coll. 



6. Port Essington. Gould Coll. 



3. Port Essington. Gould Coll. 

 e. Moreton Bay. Gould Coll. 

 1. Tasmania. Gould Coll. 



SyncBCUs raalteni (Miill. S{ Schleg.). 

 (Plate IV. fig. 1.) 



Syncecus raalteni, Grant, Cat. Birds B. M. xxii. p. 249 (1893) ; Sharpe, 

 Band-l. i. p. 31 (1899). 



The eggs of Eaalten's Swamp-Quail are broad ovals, pointed at 

 one end and approaching the pyriform. The ground-colour is of a 

 pale cream- or stone-colour, and this is thickly sprinkled over with 

 minute pale rufous dots and specks, very evenly distributed over 

 the shell The four specimens in the Collection measure respec- 

 tively : i-08 by -9 ; 1-1 by -89 ; 1-07 by -89 ; 1-1 by -87. 



4. Alor Island, Moluccas, 18th April. A. H. Everett, Esq. [P.]. 



Genus EXCALFACIOEIA, Bp. 

 Excalfactoria chinensis {Limi.). 



Excalfactoria chinensis, Swinhoe, Ibis, 1863, p. 398; Hume Sr Marsh. 

 Game Birds Ind. ii. p. 161 (1879) ; iii. App. pi. iii. (1880) ; Oates ed. 

 Hume, Nests 8f Eggs Ind. B. iii. p. 448 (1890) ; Grant, Cat. Birds 

 B M xxii. p. 250 (1893) ; Oates, Game Birds Ind. i. p. 95 (1898) ; 

 Sharpe, Handr-l. i. p. 32 (1899). 



