Plate LXXXIII. 



EALLUS SEMIPLUMBEUS. 



(SLATY-BEEASTED EAIL). 



Mallus 



Sclater, P.Z.S. 1856, p. 31. 

 Schlegel, Mus. d. P.B. Balli, p. 11. 

 Scl. et Salv. P.Z.S. 1868, p. 445. 



Supra brunnescenti-olivaceus, nigro flammulatus : alis caudaque nigricanti-brunneis : alarum tectricibus extus 

 lsete runs : capitis lateribus et corpore toto subtus plumbeis : tectricibus subcaudalibus albis nigro raaculatis : hypo 

 chondriis imis albo transfasciatis j rostro navo, culmine et apice obscuris ; pedibus clare corylinis : long, tota 8 "5, alse 

 4*4, caudse 1*8, rostri a rictu 1*7. 



Sab. in Nova Granada interiore. 



The Ornithology of the district surrounding the capital of the Eepublic of New Granada, 

 or, as it is now called, the United States of Columbia, has been more thoroughly explored than 

 perhaps any other portion of the South American continent. About thirty years ago bird- 

 skins were first received in Paris from a French collector then resident in Bogota ; and since 

 that time, the native Indians having been taught the method of preparing skins, large collections 

 have been constantly imported into England, France, and America, from the same district. 

 We have thus become well acquainted with its rich and varied Avifauna. The city itself being 

 9000 feet above the sea level, it is evident that the greater number of so-called " Bogota" skins, 

 which consist of tropical forms, must be obtained from the low-lying valleys, which intersect 

 this part of the Cordillera in every direction. Along with these, however, are intermingled 

 species of genera only to be met with in an Alpine climate, such as Phrygilus, Diglossa and 

 Otocorys. Amongst these highland forms we believe the present Bail must be included, as it 

 is a close ally of the preceding species, which is confined to the extreme southern portion of 

 the South American continent, and is, doubtless, its southern representative. 



Rallus semiplumbeus was originally described by Sclater in one of a series of articles on 

 the birds of New Granada, published in the Zoological Society's " Proceedings/' from a specimen 

 forwarded to him for examination by M. M. Yerreaux. It is, as we have already said, closely 

 allied to R. antarcticus, figured in our last plate, but may be distinguished by its larger and more 

 brightly-coloured bill, the paler rufous of the wing-coverts, and the absence of transverse white 

 markings on the upper part of the flanks. 



Our figure of this species is taken from a "Bogota" skin, in the collection of Salvin 

 and Godman. There are likewise specimens of this Bail in the British and Ley den Museums. 



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