.
Larger; wing, 100 mm. or more; forehead, throat, and breast chestnut. Limnobænus (p. 73)e2. Culmen but little longer than hind toe with claw; under tail-coverts unbanded. Poliolimnas (p. 73)c2. Culmen slightly swollen at base but not forming a frontal shield; wing more than 150 mm. Amaurornis (p. 75)
a2. Frontal shield present; legs and feet long and heavy.b1. Nostrils elongate; frontal shield narrower; terminal half of bill green or yellowish green.c1. Under tail-coverts pure white; tarsus less than 65 mm. Gallinula (p. 77)c2. Under tail-coverts not white; tarsus more than 75 mm. Gallicrex (p. 78)b2. Nostrils small and circular; frontal shield wider; bill all red. Porphyrio (p. 80)
Genus HYPOTÆNIDIA Reichenbach, 1852.
Bill slender; abdomen and flanks black or brown, banded with white.
Species.
a1. Chin white; upper parts more or less spotted with white.b1. Smaller; wing less than 125 mm.; breast uniform; no white eyebrow. striata (p. 67)b2. Larger; wing more than 140 mm.; breast barred with black and white; a white eyebrow. philippensis (p. 67)
a2. Chin black; upper parts uniform. torquata (p. 68)
57. HYPOTÆNIDIA STRIATA (Linnæus).
BLUE-BREASTED RAIL.
Rallus striatus Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 12 (1766), 1, 262.
Hypotænidia striata Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1894), 23, 33; Hand-List (1899), 1, 95; Oates, Cat. Bird’s Eggs (1901), 1, 111; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 15.
Tic-líng, general name for rails.
Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester); Cebu (Everett); Guimaras (Steere Exp.); Leyte (Everett); Luzon (Cuming, McGregor, Gevers); Mindanao (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Goodfellow); Mindoro (McGregor, Porter); Negros (Steere Exp., Keay); Palawan (Celestino, White); Panay (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Samar (Steere Exp.); Sibuyan (Bourns & Worcester); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester); Sulu (Guillemard). Burmese countries to China, Malay Peninsula, Indo-Malay Islands, Southern India, Ceylon, Formosa, Celebes.
Adult male.—Above olive-brown, feathers centered with black and barred with broken white lines; crown, neck, and sides of neck dull chestnut, brighter on the last; center of crown blackish; chin and upper throat; lores, sides of face, and ear-coverts, lower throat, fore neck, and breast slate-gray; posterior lower part of body, under wing-coverts, and axillars blackish barred with white; alula blackish brown; primary-coverts and primaries blackish brown spotted and barred with white; tail and its coverts similar to the back. “Basal half of bill rose-pink, the anterior half horn-color; legs and toes deep olive-brown; claws pale brown; iris red.” (Oates.) Length, 246; culmen, 38; wing, 120; tail, 47; tarsus, 37.
“Adult female.—Similar to the male, but paler and decidedly more olive, head not so bright chestnut; white bars on lower parts much tinged with fulvous. Length, 240; culmen, 35; wing, 110; tail, 41; tarsus, 35.
“In winter the plumage is entirely overshaded with olive-brown and there is a distinct fulvescent tinge on abdomen and under tail-coverts, almost hiding the black bars on the latter.
“Young.—Differs from the adults in having the bill black, and the upper surface much darker and without any white spots and bars on the back; head blackish, and back darker olive-brown with broad black centers to the feathers; no rufous on the head or sides of crown and sides of neck.” (Sharpe.)
58. HYPOTÆNIDIA PHILIPPENSIS (Linnæus).
PECTORAL RAIL.
Rallus philippensis Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 12 (1766), 1, 263.
Hypotænidia philippinensis Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1894), 23, 39; Hand-List (1899), 1, 96; Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1901), 1, 113; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 16.
Batan (Edmonds); Luzon (Everett, Whitehead, McGregor). Pacific Islands, Malay Archipelago, Australia, New Zealand.
“Adult male.—General color above ochraceous-brown, all the feathers black, with ochraceous edgings, and spangled with white spots on the mantle and back; lower back and rump ochraceous-brown, with white centers to the feathers, but no white spots; wing-coverts like the back, but more uniform, and with scarcely any spots on the lesser and median series, the greater series, however, having large white spots and intermediate bars of black; alula black, checkered with white spots and bars; primary-coverts rufous, olive-brown at tip and banded with black; quills rufous, banded with black, and black at tips, the first two primaries checkered on the outer web and barred on the inner web with white; secondaries blackish, externally and at the tips ochraceous-brown, with numerous ovate spots or bars, the innermost secondaries ochraceous-brown, with broad black centers resembling the back; tail-feathers ochraceous-brown centered with black; crown of head olive-brown, with black longitudinal spots to the feathers; hinder neck ferrugineous, mottled with blackish centers to the feathers, which are edged with olive-brown, obscuring the rufous; lores and broad band through the eye dusky brown, becoming rufous on the ear-coverts and extending to the sides of the neck, where it is a little brighter rufous; over the lores a white band extending above the eye, and continued in a broad band of light ashy gray above the ear-coverts, and extending to the sides of the nape; cheeks light ashy gray, extending over the fore neck, which is washed with brown; fore part of the cheeks and throat white, remainder of under surface white, with black bars, very distinct, but narrow on the sides of fore neck, broader and more regular on the sides of body, where the feathers have olive-brown tips; flank feathers distinctly barred with black and white, the black bands being the broader; feathers at the sides of the vent tawny-buff, black at the base, and barred with white; long under tail-coverts black, with white bars, tawny-buff at the ends, the lower coverts tawny-buff, with black bases; thighs tawny-buff, dusky brown behind, under wing-coverts black, broadly edged with white; axillars black, barred with white. ‘Bill warm brown; feet and claws light grayish brown; iris indian-red.’ (Everett.) Length, 292; culmen, 32; wing, 145; tail, 67; tarsus, 39; middle toe with claw, 47.” (Sharpe.)
Female.—An immature female agrees with the description of the male but the lower throat and fore breast are obscured with slate-gray and a slight olive wash. Bill dull brick-red, the terminal third brown; iris red; legs and nails light brown. Length, 305; wing, 136; tail, 73; culmen, 30; tarsus, 39; middle toe with claw, 43. This species is rare in Luzon.
59. HYPOTÆNIDIA TORQUATA (Linnæus).
PHILIPPINE RAIL.
Rallus torquatus Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 12 (1766), 1, 262.
Hypotænidia torquata Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1894), 23, 43; Hand-List (1899), 1, 96; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 16.
Bantayan (McGregor); Bongao (Everett);