PLATE VIII. 



GENUS EULABEORNIS. fGouldJ 



THIS genus was established for the sole purpose of accommodating a singular species of Rail, inhabiting two 

 localities in the Northern Territory. 



EULABEORNIS CUSTANEIYENTRIS. (Gould.) 



CHESTNUT-BELLIED RAIL. Genus: Eulabeornis. 



HERE we have a very large bird, quite the king of Rails as to size, and, like the kingly race, by no means 

 common. It inhabits the low muddy shores and mangrove swamps of the northern coast of Australia, the 

 first being killed at the Gulf of Carpentaria by Rear- Admiral Stokes, R.N., who forwarded it to Gould, by 

 whom it was regarded as a great prize. Though he had been able to procure some eggs, the extreme shyness of 

 the bird had prevented his getting a specimen. Not only is it very shy, but also very wary, so that even to 

 catch a glimpse of it in the dense vegetation is a rare achievement. It is a marvellously rapid runner, and 

 is easily alarmed. 



The eggs are rather long in shape, of a pale pinky white colour, dotted with reddish chestnut at wide 

 intervals, and some of them appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell, which gives those spots a darker 

 shade. Length, two inches one line and a-half ; breadth, one inch seven lines and a-half. 



Head and neck, ashen grey ; all the upper surfaces, wings, and tail, olive ; all under surfaces, greyish 

 chestnut ; bill, yellow at the base, horn at tip ; legs and feet, brown. 



Total length, nineteen inches. 



Habitats : Port Darwin, Port Essington, Cape York. 



