Order RALLIFOBMJES 
Family RALLIDJE. 
No. 53. 
EULABEORNIS CASTANEOVENTRIS CASTANEOVENTRIS. 
CHESTNUT-BELLIED KAIL. 
(Plate 48.) 
Eulabeobnis castaneoventris Gould, P.Z.S., p. 56 (1844) North Coast of Australia (Gulf 
of Carpentaria?). 
Eulabeornis castaneoventris Gould, P.Z.S., p. 56 (1844) ; id., B. Austr., VI., PI. 78 (1848) ; 
Mathews, Birds Austr., p. 184 (1911) (cancelled). 
Eulabeornis castaneiventris Gould, Handb. B. Austr., II., p. 338 (1865) ; Ramsay, P.L.S., 
N.S.W., I., p. 193 (1876) ; id., Tab. List Austr. B., p. 21 (1888) ; North, Austr. Mus. 
Cat., No. 12, p. 331 (1889) ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. B., p. 742 (1901) ; HaU, 
Key B. Austr., p. 76 (1906) ; Hall and Rogers, Emu VII., p. 142 (1908). 
Eulabeornis castaneiventer Sharpe, Handl, B., I., p. 97 (1899) ; Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs Brit. 
Mus., I., p, 113 (1901) ; Mathews, Handl. B. Austral., p. 12 (1908). 
Distbiblttion. North-western Australia ; Northern Territory ; North Queensland. 
Adult male. General colour above ohve, including the hind-neck, back, wings, and tail, with 
a tinge of rufous-brown on the rump ; inner web of bastard-wing, primary and 
secondary quills chestnut-brown, as also the tail-feathers ; crown of the head, sides 
of the face, and throat ash-grey ; under-surface of body rich chestnut, deeper in colour 
on the under wing-coverts and under tail-coverts ; washed vdth grey on the fore-neck 
and chest; thighs ash-grey; “Base of bill green, tip horn -colour; iris yellow, slightly 
mottled with brown ; feet and legs olive-yellow ” (J. P. Rogers). Total length, 
537 mm; culmen, 61 ; wing, 212; tail, 136; tarsus, 70. 
Adult female. Differs from the adult male in having the upper hind-neck ash-grey like the 
head, instead of olive hke the back. Total length, 502 mm. ; culmen, 56 ; wing, 206 ; 
tail, 130 ; tarsus, 66. 
Nest. “ Placed on a low slanting mangrove, and built of sticks, with no lining. Placed 
from 3 to 7 feet from the ground ” (Rogers). 
Eggs. Clutch four. “ Rather lengthened in form, of a pale pinky-white, dotted all over with 
reddish-chestnut, the spots being thinly dispersed, and some of them appearing as if 
beneath the surface of the shell, giving them a darker tint ; two inches and one -eighth 
long, one inch and five-eighths broad ” (Gould). 
Breeding season. September to November (Rogers). 
My collector, Mr. J. P. Rogers, appears to be the only man who knows anything 
about the life-history of this bird, and he has collected all the specimens of this 
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