

: Measurements taken from the above type : 



Finsch. 



(French) 8-2 inch. 10 lin. 12 Jin. 4 lin. 13 lin. 1^, 



= m mill. 85 mm. 26 mm. 2/ mm. 11 mm. d0 mm. J 



150 mm. 73 mm. 20 mm. 29 mm. 34 mm. Hartlaub. 



(English) 5-3 inch. 2-8 inch. 08 lin. 1-3 inch. 1-35 inch. ] „, 



= 135 mm. 68 mm. 19 mm. 34 mm. 37 mm. } onai P e - 



"The wing is round; the primaries nearly hidden under the long and soft coverts; 

 the first primary is 40 mm. long and 15 mm. shorter than the 3rd and 4th, which are 

 the longest, though only a little longer than the 2nd and 5th ; the exact number of 

 primaries is difficult to ascertain without injuring the specimen. For the same reason 

 I am able to find only two tail-feathers (dark-coloured, soft, narrow, and 20 mm. long), 

 as they are hidden under the extremely thick, long, and soft upper tail-coverts, and are 

 difficult to distinguish from the latter. So this species may be called ' ecaudatus ' as 

 truly as Pennula ecaudata, King, and, as seen by the structure of the wings, is no doubt 

 a flightless form. The feet are feeble ; the nails short and small. 



" The type specimen in the Leyden Museum is stuifed and not too well; the stuffing, 

 however, is apparently not of very old date, as may be judged from the artificial eyes 

 (with red irides), which seem to be of enamelled glass, or — at any rate — of a kind 

 which was unknown in the beginning of this century. The wire used for stuffing is of 

 brass, as commonly used by the taxidermists of the Leyden Museum. 



"On the underside of the stand of the specimen is written, undoubtedly by the hand 

 of Temminck, ' Rallus — Latham,' and perhaps also by Temminck ' Mall, obscura ' ; to 

 this is added ' Crex sandwichensis, Cat. No. 1,' no doubt written by Schlegel, as possibly 

 also are the words ' Sandwich. Cook.' In the ' Catalogue of the Ealli ' Schlegel says 

 unhesitatingly ' observe dans les iles Sandwich ; voyage de Cook,' but this statement 

 does not seem to rest on any reliable foundation, for there does not exist any notice 

 when and from whom Temminck acquired the specimen ! This fact must be mentioned, 

 as Dr. Hartlaub assures us that Temminck bought this Eail at the auction of Bullock's 

 collection (3 June, 1819) for £1 15s., which may have been the case; but it cannot 

 be proved that it was the specimen in question. 



" Latham's ' Dusky Rail ' (Rallus obscurus, GmL), said to come also from the 

 Sandwich Islands, is, according to his description, a quite different and much larger 

 bird ('legs two inches ' = 50 mm.; 'legs red-brown'; 'bill scarcely one inch' — our 

 specimen has the bill only 7^ lines long!), and is most likely not a 'Pennula ' at all. 

 Evidently Latham would have mentioned the rudimentary tail 3 , as he did not overlook 

 this prominent character in the description of his ' Sandwich Rail.' The type of 



1 " The measurements of the wings and culmen given here are not exact." 



2 " The identity with Pennula ecaudata (King) seems therefore rather doubtful, as already mentioned by 

 Dr. Hartlaub." 



