Okder GEALL^.] 
[Fam. EALLID^.. 
CABALUS MODESTUS. 
(HUTTON’S EAIL.) 
Ballus modestus, Hutton, Ibis, 1872, p. 247. 
Rallus dieffenbachii (young), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, 1st ed. p. 180 (1873). 
Cahalus modestus, Hutton, Trans. N.-Z. Inst. vol. vi. p. 108 (1874) *. 
Cabalus dieffenhacMi (young), Sharpe, App. Voy. Ereb. and Terror, p. 29 (1875). 
Ad. olivascenti-brunneus, unicolor, plumis quibusdam interscapulii et tectricibus alarum majoribus paucis indistincte 
fulvo fasciatim terminatis : supracaudalibus fulvo magis distincte transfasciatis : facie laterali vix cinerasceute : 
gutture sordide cinereo, brunnescente obscurato ; corpore reliquo subtbs brunneo, dorso concolore, sed anguste 
et magis distincte fulvo transfaseiato : rostro et pedibus pallide brunneis : iride pallide brunne^. 
Adult. General plumage dull olive-brown, plumbeous at the base; throat greyish, each feather tipped with 
brown ; feathers of the breast narrowly fringed with pale fulvous ; those coveriug the upper part of abdomen 
and sides of the body, as well as the under tail-coverts, erossed by two narrow bars of the same colour ; the 
first three primaries very faintly barred with reddish fulvous; tail-feathers, rump, and thighs obscurely 
freckled with fulvous. Irides, bill, and legs light browm. The plumage is very soft in texture, and the 
markings have the indeterminate charaeter peculiar to young Rails. 
Young. Covered with thick down of uniform brownish black. 
This small Ocydromine form (which I treated in my former edition as the young of Cabalus dieffen- 
baohii) was obtained by Mr. Henry Travers in the small island of Mangare (one of the Chatham 
Isles) in 1872 ; and Mr. Walter Hood informs me that it may still be obtained there, although 
difficult to procure, owing to its semi-nocturnal habits. 
Prof. Hntton writes : — “ Both the birds obtained by Mr. H. Travers were full-grown, one accom- 
panied by her young one, and the other containing well-developed ova; they were both exactly alike 
in colour and dimensions, in neither of which do they show any approach to the colour and dimensions 
of It*, diejfenbacldi, as may be seen by comparing descriptions of the two ; while in all known Bails 
the young soon acquire a plumage approaching in colour to that of the adult, and always attain their 
adult plumage before breeding. In its body, tail, wings, legs, and feet, C. modestus is a smaller bird 
than R. dieffenbacMi, while the bills of the two are of nearly the same length ; but in all Bails the 
legs and feet attain the full size very early, and long before the bill acquires its full length.” 
* I have been favoured with the following interesting note : — “ I have found the MS. of a paper all but completed, but 
never published, ‘ On a compartson of the skeletons of Cabalus ( = lialhts) modestus and Rallus philippensis ’ ; and I take the present 
opportunity, through Sir Walter Bullor’s kindness, of adding this footnote in support of the very distinctive characters of the bird 
in question — Cabalus modestus, Hutton. In the MS. above referred to I iucidentaEy alluded to ornithologists’ recognized genera, 
which sometimes, when critically examined by the light of their osteology, do not furnish convincing data of stable bony characters 
in support of their attributed generic rank. In the instance of the Eail here mentioned, I then wrote : — ‘ In anticipation of 
what follows as a matter of fact, I shall adduce proofs of differentiation such as not only indicate specific sejiaration, but warrant 
generic relegation.’ I then give proofs of the bird being an adult, or nearly so, and of its being relatively flightless. Then followed 
comparisons of the bones &c., whereof I may mention, as an epitome of results and as the drawings elucidate, that trenchant 
distinctions obtain in the sternum and furcula, in the pelvis, and in the cranium and mandible, &c. The octavo plate of illustra- 
tions thereof has been lying finished since 1874; and at the recommendation of Sir W. Buller I intend forwarding the same with 
a revision of the MS. to date to the New Zealand Institute, in whose publications first notice of the bird appeared. James Mtjeie. 
B 2 
