THE WHITE-BBEASTED WATER-HEN 
Armmrorfiis phwnicHra jai/anka {Horsf.) 
Malay nafne : — Ruak-ruak . 
Description: — There seems little need to describe th?s 
bird in detail for it is so plainly and boldly coloured that it 
should be easily recognised from the illustration g-iven 
herewith. The plate is perhaps rather too highly coloured 
and the dark parts on the bird, ie. the back and wings should 
be much blacker and not quite so green although these parts 
have a faint greenish gloss. Similarly the under tail coverts 
should be chestnut and scarcely so red as in our illustration. 
The ruak-ruak is roughly the same size as the common 
moor-hen (or water-hen) so well-known at home. 
The length is about 12 inches and the wing measures 
approximately 5 J inches, 
This is one of those rather confusing species in whidi 
the birds from northern latitudes are noticeably larger than 
those which breed in the south. When the northern birds 
migrate at certain seasons and mix with their smaller relatives 
a large range in size is to be noticed in the birds from any one 
locality! 
There is very little difference between the sexes, 
Distnbiithn : ^The white -breasted water-hen h found in 
India, Burma, southern China, throughout the Malay Peninsula 
and the islands to Celebes and the Philippines and up to 
Formosa. 
Status in Singapore : —Although it is fashionable to quote 
that this is a bird of the ''waterways and swampy places" it can 
almost be said that there are few places in Singapore where 
it is not found and although perhaps we must admit that its 
haunts are always near water, this water is sometimes 
extremely limited in extent and may indeed be but a tiny pond 
or narrow ditch! Perliaps it is most abundant in the swampy 
places but it wanders far afield in its search for food and can 
be seen under the most unexpected circumstances such as 
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