234 THE WHITEY-BROWN CRAKE.
heavily, Rail-like, with the legs hanging down behind, and was
knocked over before it had got far.
Lieut. II. R. Kclham, of H. M's. 74th Regiment, writes to me:—
" As regards P. tittered, though for over six months I was daily
shooting among the swamps and jhi'ls of North Pcrak, I never
met with either it or the Ruddy Banded species, though Hypottznidia
striata was rather common.
" My experience has been that P. cinerea is not found in
wild, jungly districts, but frequents low-lying, cultivated
country.
" I have shot it in Province Wellesley, and towards the
end of September it literally swarms in the paddy fields of
Singapore, particularly in those which arc knec-deep with
the filth which the Chinamen carry out from the town and
spread over the fields. About sunset I have seen dozens of
these Rails come out of the reeds and bushes bordering the
paddy fields and commence to feed, scuttling away to the
covert when alarmed."
NOTHING IS known of the nidification of this species.
A MALE measured in the flesh :—
Length, S'5 ; expanse, 12*0; wing, 3*62; tail from ventr
2*12 ; tarsus, 1*4; bill from gape, r o ; weight, 2*25 ozs.
The legs, feet and claws were clear grass green ; the upper
mandible greenish brown; the lower dark oil-yellow; edges
of eyelids litharge red ; hides dull lake.
Another male measures in the skin —
Wing, 36S; tail from vent, i"85 ; tarsus, 134; bill from
gape, o'92.
Of this specimen, the legs and feet were green ; the bill
brownish red; and the irides orange red.
Of one shot on 24th September, Lieutenant Kclham says:—
1 1 Length, SI inches ; irides red brown ; beak yellowish red at base;
legs yellowish green ; soles yellow."
Other authors have given the legs as greenish, olive green,
oil green, dirty reddish yellow ; the bill as yellowish fleshy,
brownish yellow above, yellowish below, yellow reddish at the
base, reddish brown above, brick red at the commissure. Irides
red.
THE PLATE, conveys a good idea of the specimen, a male,
that was figured ; in another male I find the whole of the
crown black, not barred, though the feathers are faintly
edged paler. The bill, too, was brownish red.
III iilOEffl Ml'OlÛ ZMM
Rallina fasciata, Baffles,
Vornaeular Hamos.—1
T is only in Tenasserim that the Malayan Banded
Crake occurs within our limits, and even in this
Province I am not aware that it extends further
north than Moulmein. In Pegu, Upper Pegu at any
rate, it is replaced by the Indian species.
Elsewhere it is found throughout the Malay Peninsula,
Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, and may occur, as
been stated (though this requires confirmation), in the
Philippines. It has also been recorded from Bouru and the
Pelcw Islands.
WHEN ONE has recorded the food, flight and habits of one
species of these Crakes, there remains little to be said about
the others, unless you have watched them very closely. W'th
careful observation each species exhibits some peculiarities in
its mode of life and food, which to a certain extent characterize
i t ; but the opportunities for such observation arc rare in the
case of all Rails, and in regard to this particular species, which
I have never seen in a wild state myself, I cannot find that any
one has ever recorded anything beyond what Davison remarked
in our Birds of Tenasserim. I Ic said :—"This Crake is very rare
in Tenasserim, confining itself to the brushwood and scrub jungle
in the vicinity of cultivation. I only saw this at Amherst and
Tavoy. It may occur between Tavoy and Mergui, which I
have not worked, but from Mergui southwards, within our
limits, I do not think it occurs, which is at first sight strange, as
further south again, in the Malay Peninsula, it is common enough.
It may be that the rice lands in the southernmost portions of
the Province do not suit it. About Amherst and Tavoy the
rice fields are surrounded by a good deal of low scrub and
brushwood. About Bankasoon, on the other hand, the rice fields
are mere hollows, with the dry forest, comparatively free of
undergrowth, coming right down to their margins, where, consequently,
there is no cover such as the bird likes and finds abundantly
in both localities where I have seen it."