It seems common in Southern Ceylon, and occurs about the
bases of the Ni'lgiris, the Wynad, and the Malabar Coast,
whence it extends into Belgaum and the Southern Koncan.* Two
specimens were also sent me by Captain Mitchell said to have
been procured in the Madras market.
North of this I can find no record of its having been procured
in the Madras Presidency, in the Deccan, the Nizam's
Territory, Khandesh, Guzerat, Berar, the Central Provinces, the
Central India Agency, Rajputana, Kutch, Kathiawdr, Sind, the
Punjab, Oudh, the North-Western Provinces or Chota Nagpore.
I do not rely only on published lists; in many of these
localities I have personally collected on a large scale, while in
others I have had experienced collectors, like Mr. F. R. Blewitt,
collecting for a series of years.
The species reappears in the deltaic districts of Lower Bengal,
from several localities in which I have received specimens ;
it is very common in the neighbourhood of Calcutta itself. I
have it from Sylhct, Cachar, and the Khasia Hills ; and, though
I have seen no specimens thence, have been informed that it
occurs right up the Assam valley to Sadiya.
I should expect it to occur in the Duars and in the Tarais,
running thence westwards along the bases of the Himalayas; but
I can obtain no verification of this fact, and Mr. Hodgson never
seems to have obtained it in Nepal or Sikhim, or to have received
it from the Tarais below these. Doubtless it occurs in Tipperah
and Chittagong, but the fact still remains to be established.
We know of its occurrence in Aracan, many localities in
Pegu,-f and several in Tcnasserim.
cbsatriora must be suppressed, and the Indian bird would require a new title; but
if the former, which seems most probable, then the names as given in the text
would stand.
Of course the question as to whether we should accept the peculiar Andamanese
race as a distinct species still remains an open one. I can only say that the insular
birds are uniformly, sex for sex (of course taking adults only), markedly larger
(as are their eggs), and the colouration so different that no single Indian or Malayan
specimen in our huge series approaches or can be confounded with any Andaman
bird. If we suppress it, so must we suppress one or two others of the genus now
universally accepted.
* Mr. (i. Vidal writes :—
" I found a few birds of this species in a mangrove swamp on the Vashishtt
river in this district (Ratnagiri), about FIVE miles from the coast. I shot one male
on the 30TH March 1 S 7 9 measuring as follows :—Wing, 4.V ; bill, 1^ ; tarsus,
1/2 ; mid-toe and claw, I J F . Eyes red • legs greenish; bill dusky above and
reddish below I have not yet seen this species elsewhere, nor has any one else
to my knowledge obtained it in this district. In its habits it appears to be less
skulking than P. baitloni. Towards evening I have seen them come fearlessly out of
the thick cover of the bushes and mangroves to the edge of the mud banks to feed,
giving a good shot from a boat. But if once alarmed, they dodge rapidly under
the bushes, and it ;s almost impossible to put them up again."
t Mr. Oates writes :—
" The commonest of all the Kails. It is found everywhere in Pegu in the plains.
It is a constant resident, I think, but I do not remember ever seeing it in the dry
weather, November to May.
Outside our limits it has been obtained in Independent
Burma, Western Yunan, and Southern China generally and
Formosa ; in Siam, Cochin China* (Saigonf), the Malay Peninsula,
Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and probably (but see note,
p. 245) the Philippines.
IN THE early mornings, in the neighbourhood of Calcutta,
where alone I have been able to observe this species, it may be
seen running about on the grassy banks of water channels or
on short turf bordering on rice fields, swampy thickets, and the
like, but at all other times it lies concealed in wet standing
crops, brush-wood, in low hollows or dense herbage, often on the
margins of river channels, and ponds.
It runs with great rapidky and ease, but as it feeds, walks
slowly along with rather a circumspect air, lifting its feet very
deliberately, but holding its body all the while nearly horizontal
; every now and then it makes a little run here and there
to seize some favourite morsel; then it will stand still a
moment and raise its head as if to listen, and again resume its
deliberate march, occasionally, but not nearly so often as do the
Porzanas, jerking its little tail. I do not think it is quick sighted,
or, if it be so, it does not look many feet above the level of
the ground ; for I have stood for several minutes at a time in
grass scarcely above my knees, watching one of these birds on
the open sward scarcely ten yards distant. Even raising my hat
silently to wipe my forehead has not caught the bird's attention,
but at the slightest sound, e.g., the clicking of a rupee once
against my gun barrel, it would give a little shrug and
glide, stooping low, into cover with wonderful quickness. Keep
perfectly quiet, and if it is still early, and the heavy dew thick
on the grass, in a very short space of time, just where it
disappeared, you will see the bird's head and neck protruded
from the reeds, and after a moment or so our friend re-emerges,
and, running to close to the spot whence he (or she) was frightened,
resumes its food-quest.
I have seen as many as five birds thus feeding within a circle
of fifty yards ; but single birds or pairs are far most commonly
thus observed, and this is equally the case when beating likely
spots with dogs, when you are pretty sure of flushing all the birds
there are, once, at any rate. Without dogs, unless you surprise
them, suddenly emerging from the cover nearest to them, and
rushing at them, they are hard as a rule to put up, preferring, in
most cases, even though in the open, to depend upon their legs.
With dogs they rise once readily enough, but after that will
usually allow themselves to be caught rather than fly a second
time.
+ Finsch and Conrad. K. K. Z.-b. G.,Vienna, 1 8 7 3 , 4TH June.