Oedeb GEALLjE.] 
[Fam. EALLIDjE. 
OCYDEOMTJS FUSCUS. 
(BLACK WOODHEN.) 
Gallirallus fuscus, Du Bus, Esquisses Orn. pi. 11 (1847). 
Ocydromus nigricans^ Buller, Trans. N.-Z. Inst. i. p. Ill (1868). 
Ocydromus fuscus, Finsch, J. f. O. 1870, p. 354. 
Ocydromus Jinschi, Hutton, Trans. N.-Z. Inst. vol. vi. p. Ill (1873). 
Native name. — Weka-pango. 
Ad. brunnescenti-niger, plumis plus minusve rufescenti-brunneo marginatis : gutture et facie lateral! cinereis vix 
brunneo tinctis : abdoruine medio sordide cinereo : remigibus brunnescenti-nigris, intus rufescenti-brunneo 
maculatis : cauda nigra : subcaudalibus ferrugineo transfasciatis : rostro nigricanti-brunneo : pedibus pallide 
brunneis : iride saturate brunned. 
Adult. General plumage brownish black, each feather margined more or less with rufous brown j throat and 
sides of the head cinereous, slightly tinged with brown ; middle portion of abdomen dull cinereous ; qnills 
brownish black, obscurely banded or spotted on tbe inner webs with rufous hrown ; the soft feathers lining 
the wings faintly margined with rufous ; tail-feathers black ; under tail-coverts transversely barred with 
rufous. Irides bright reddish brown ; bill dark brown, tinged with red towards the base ; legs bright 
reddish brown ; darker on the hind part of tarsi and on the under surface of toes. Total length 22 inches ; 
extent of wings 23*25 ; wing, from flexure, 7*25 ; tail 5*25 ; bill, along the ridge 2, along the edge of lower 
mandible 2*4; tarsus 2*25 ; middle toe and claw 3 ; hind toe and claw 1. 
Young. In young birds the plumage of the upper surface is more or less varied with rounded spots of rufous 
brown, and the primaries are obscurely banded with rufous. These quill-markings disappear after the first or 
second moult, the spots vanish, and the rufous streaks on the upper surface diminish as the bird gets older. 
Ohs. Examples vary in the amount of rufous colouring that pervades the plumage, some being almost wholly 
black and without any markings on the quills. A specimen in Sir James HectoFs collection of birds in the 
Otago JMuseum has no bars on the under tail-coverts j and another, in my own collection, has the fore neck 
and hreast largely suffused with fulvous brown. The measurements given above were taken from a freshly 
killed male bird. Another male measured 21 inches in length and 22*5 in extent. 
An apparently adult female specimen of this bird in the Canterbury Museum (obtained at Preservation 
Inlet) has the general plumage brownish black ; throat dark grey mixed with smoky brown ; the plumage 
of the fore neck, lower hind neck, and upper surface of wings presenting dull streaky marks of rufous, each 
feather being irregularly touched with this on each web ; tail-feathers black ; under coverts obscurely 
marked with rufous. On the underside of one of the primaries (an old feather which came out on 
being handled) there are obsolete rufous bars ; and the scattered new feathers appearing on the upper 
surface of the body are almost entirely black ; bill bright reddish brown at the base, horn-grey towards the 
tips of both mandibles ; legs and feet reddish brown. It may be inferred from this state of plumage that 
the tendency of this species is to darken towards maturity. 
Remarks. The type of Hutton's Ocydromus finschi, with a label in his handwriting attached, is now in my 
collection. Prof. Ward, of Eochester, obtained it by exchange from the Otago Museum, and I was fortunate 
enough to get it back from New York six months afterwards. In this bird the primaries are very distinctly 
