ERYTHRA PHCENICITRA. 
787 
Young. When first batched the chick is covered with black down. After leaving the nest, and following the parent, 
the back becomes edged with pale brownish ; a stripe on each side of the chin and the sides of the belly whitish ; 
wing-coverts and breast with faint light bars ; sides of the rump and under tail-coverts rufescent. 
An example now before me, partly feathered and partly in down, has the ear-coverts greyish white, and the face and 
lores black, mingled with a few whitish feathers, one or two of which are also present above the eye and on the 
forehead ; the centre of the chin is black ; but on either side the throat is white, and the feathers of the fore neck 
are whitish, tipped with slaty, which spreads over the chest, and then gives way to white on the centre of the 
breast. 
Iris brown; bill black; legs and feet dusky olive-brown. 
Ohs. As will be seen from a perusal of the above description of the young, the frontal band and white face are 
' wanting in youth ; and it is evident that the first-year examples vary considerably in the extent to which these 
characters are acquired : in some there is not a trace of white on the forehead ; in others there is a narrow frontal 
band and no white above the eye ; in some, again, there is a narrow white supercilium ; in others the face and fore- 
head are concolorous with the head, but with a few white feathers here and there, showing that eventually the 
parts in question will become white. This variableness has given rise to the opinion that there may be two 
species ; but such is not the case. Jerdon omits mention of the white face and forehead, and evidently took his 
description from an immature example. Mr. IToldsworth notices this fact, and speaks of a specimen in the 
British Museum from the “ Indian Archipelago,” in which the white is confined to the underparts, the forehead 
and face in a line with the lower mandible being blackish. I have carefully examined this bird, and find that there 
are whitish and white-tipped feathers on the face, and it is consequently an immature bird. The forehead has 
no appearance of immediate change ; but some examples, as I have already stated, have the face white and the 
forehead black, the latter probably not changing until the third moult. The measurements of the bird in 
question are similar to those of Indian examples ; they are : — wing 6-6 inches ; tail 2-8 ; tarsus 2-3 ; bill to gape To. 
A series of skins I have examined from India measure as follows : — wing 5'6 to f>‘7 inches; tarsus 2-1 to 2'3 ; 
bill to gape 1-3 to 1-4. Adult specimens from the mainland correspond in coloration exactly with Ceylonese, with, 
of course, variations in individuals as to the breadth of the white frontal band, as in insular birds. 
Mr. Hume notices some interesting paints of difference between Andaman and Nicobar examples and Indian. These 
consist in the forehead having sometimes much more white than is ever seen in the latter, this colour extending 
back as much as 1 inch from the bill, whereas on the under surface there is less white, and the lower belly, vent, 
and tibial plumes are darker — that is, chestnut- coloured instead of pale rufescent. These characters seem to be 
acquired with age, some specimens corresponding with Indian birds. The wing in four female examples varied 
from 6'0 to 6-5 inches. Examples from Acheen, in Western Sumatra, resemble, says Mr. Hume, Indian, and not 
Nicobar birds. 
I have compared the following specimens in the national collection with some from Ceylon 
(Java) c? • Identical in hue of upper surface, with the same amount of white on the forehead, face, and under surface : 
wing 6 - 0 ; tarsus 2 - l. 
(Celebes) («) $ . Same amount of white on forehead and face ; upper surface slightly differing ; more greenish on the 
rump: wing 5-8 inches; tarsus T95. (6) Similar to Ceylonese: wing 6-7 inches; tarsus 2-2. (c) Immature, in 
the act of acquiring the white forehead ; the centre part white, and the sides dark. 
(Banjermassing, Borneo.) Similar to Ceylonese : wing 5'7 inches. 
(Timor.) Immature : face and forehead dark, spotted with white. This is apparently the Gallinula leucomelana of 
8. Muller; but it does not appear to be separable from true E. jahoenicura . 
Lastly, I must remark that the White-breasted Waterhen varies, like the Common Crow, considerably in size of body, 
though there is not perhaps a corresponding shortness of wing. This is observable even when they are seen at 
large ; and Mr. Bligh lately writes me of an example (male), lately procured, which was so small as to lead him to 
think that there must be two species in Ceylon. 
Distribution. — This Waterhen is universally distributed throughout the low country from J affna to Dondra 
Head, and from Colombo across to Batticaloa; and is nowhere more common than about Colombo, where 
it is resident all round the lake, breeding freely on its shores. In the western and south-western portions of 
the island, which are well watered by both rivers and small streams and brooks, and abundantly covered with 
paddy-fields, it is exceedingly common, and is met with almost everywhere where there is water. In the 
eastern and western districts it is chiefly confined to large sheets of water and the numerous village tanks, the 
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