238 THE BANDED CRAKE. 



I have seen no other specimens. I have been, however, assured 

 of the bird's occurrence in the Bhutan Duars and Sikhim*, in 

 the north of the Bahraich district, Oudh, and in the Dehra Dun. 



Dr. Anderson obtained a single specimen in 1865 in the 

 Calcutta bazaar, where Blyth never saw it, and where, during 

 the cold season, I have seen none. Similarly, during the 

 last thirty years, the Madras Museum have obtained a single 

 specimen from the neighbourhood of Madras. 



I conclude that it is only Ceylon and the extreme south of the 

 Peninsula that this species visits regularly and in any great 

 numbers ; but that yearly a few stragglers reach the eastern coast 

 of the Peninsula, and a few, passing via Upper Pegu, sweep, some 

 up the valley of the Ganges, as far west at any rate as Mainpuri, 

 and some up that of' the Brahmaputra to the base of the 

 Himalayas, and thence westwards along their Tarais and Duns, 

 (perhaps as far west as the Jumna,) finding their way occasionally 

 into some of the lower and warmer valleys in the interior of 

 these mountains. Very possibly some find their way into the 

 valley of Assam, but of this we know nothing at present. 



But where do they come from ? From several islands of the 

 Philippines (Zebu, Negros, Leyte) the Marquis of Tweeddale 

 announced specimens which he referred to this species. He said, 

 these " do not quite agree with Ceylon and Continental Indian 

 individuals, inasmuch as the dark banding below appears blacker, 

 broader, and more decided, and the dorsal colouring is browner. 

 Still, since it is impossible to select any marked characteristic 

 difference, and as this Rail is probably a migrant, as in Ceylon, I 

 refer these Philippine birds to the Indian species." 



Assuming this identification to be correct, the Marquis of 

 Tweeddale's birds, collected from the last week of April to Sep- 

 tember, may really be birds of the race that migrates to Ceylon 

 and straggles to India in the cold season, and the slight differ- 

 ences in plumage noticed may be seasonal. 



I cannot find that this species has ever been recorded from 

 Java, Sumatra, or Borneo ; but these lie perhaps south of their 

 line of migration. Of Cochin China and Siam we know so 

 little that its non-record thence is no matter for surprise ; but 

 that it should never have been found in either S. Tenasserim 

 or the Malay Peninsula is surprising. We, at any rate, have 

 never seen it thence. From the former we have Rallina fascia- 

 ta, from the latter Rallina fasciata, snperciliaris and the Chinese 

 mandarina,\ but we have never seen the present species. 



Salvadori says, however, " a species allied to R. fasciata is that 

 described as euryzonoides by Lafresnaye, of which the Turin 



* Mr. Mandelli says : — " About Porzana euryzonoides: — It must be a very rare bird 

 here. I got only one specimen in the Bhutan Duars, and also one mature specimen 

 with a young one shot in Native Sikhim on the Ramana river : in all, three specimens 

 in all these years" 



t In Stray Feathers (Vol. VIII., p. 406) I have shown that this is probably 

 identical with Rallus paykulli, of Ljung. 



