BUFF-BANDED RAIL. 
than in the preceding raee ; the secondaries are much shorter than the 
primaries ; there is a wide, pale buff pectoral band, and the black barring extends 
across the belly ; the olive wash is missing ; the lores are rufous. The measure- 
ments vary as follows : Culmen 28 to 33, wing 139 to 153, tarsus 37 to 42, the 
average being, culmen 30, wing 144 and tarsus 39 mm., the female being slightly 
smaller. This subspecies is probably confined to Australia, though a single 
specimen from the Astrolabe Mountains, New Guinea, agrees fairly well with 
some Austrahan specimens. 
Eulabeornis philippensis sethsmithiy^ subsp. n., is based on a well sexed 
series from Fiji, collected by Mr. E. Layard, and which give quite important 
results. In general coloration they closely approach the Australian subspecies 
but the pectoral band is almost missing ; in only one case out of ten is there an 
indistinct coloration (and the lower throat is grey instead of being marked with 
olive, as in birds from the Philippines) ; they are, however, consistently larger, 
and show the females as usual to be less than the males. Seven females give 
the following measurements : culmen 30.5 to 33, wing 137 to 144, tarsus 40 to 43, 
the average being culmen 32, wing 142 and tarsus 42 mm., while three males 
show culmen 32.5 to 36, wing 147 to 149, tarsus 44.5 to 47, the average being 
culmen 34, wing 148 and tarsus 46. The type is in the British Museum. 
Eulaheornis philippensis forsteri Hartlaub can be used for the Birds from 
Tonga. These are generally darker than Fijian birds, and more spotted on the 
wing-coverts ; they have shorter bills and wing, and therefore approach the 
Australian subspecies ; the tarsus is constantly longer than in that bird ; the 
available material shows that the under-surface barring does not extend across the 
belly. Immature specimens show the young to resemble the adult, inasmuch 
as they are almost as distinctly marked in every detail on the upper-surface 
but lighter, while underneath the throat is washed with huffish, and a pale 
yellowish tinge pervades the whole under-surface, the barring, though present in 
the same manner as in the adult, is less marked. A faint pectoral wash shows 
in these young which is lost in the adult. The culmen varies from 28 to 30, 
the wing from 132 to 141, the tarsus from 40 to 43. 
Eulaheornis philippensis goodsoni,^ subsp. n., is introduced for ^amoan 
specimens which are near the Tongan subspecies, but are larger and all show 
traces of pectoral band ; they are darker underneath, and have also the tail 
much barred with white ; other subspecies which they resemble have the tail 
uniform or scarcely marked. The culmen gives 32 to 36, wing 136 to 155, and 
tarsus 46 to 48. The type is in the Tring Museum, being a male collected on 
March 28th, 1895— C. M. Woodford Coll., No. 101. 
* Named after Mr. David Seth-Smith, of the Zoological Gardens, London. 
I Named after Mr. Arthur Goodson, assistant in the bird-rooms of the Tring Museum. 
197 
