A Manual of Philippine Birds. Richard C. McGregor
narrow white bars; vent and under tail-coverts blackish with wider white bars; wings and tail brown; axillars and under wing-coverts fringed with white. Iris brick-red, a narrow inner circle brown; bill dark brown, lighter at tips; legs red; nails brown. A male from Manila market, September 2, 1904, measures: Length, 190; wing, 93; tail, 42; exposed culmen, 20; tarsus, 30; middle toe with claw, 35.
Adult female.—Similar to the male. A female from Cagayancillo, February 23, 1903, measures: Length, 210; wing, 96; tail, 47; exposed culmen, 18.5; tarsus, 32; middle toe with claw, 37. A breeding female from Manila market, August 20, 1902, measures: Length, 210; wing, 98; tail, 47; exposed culmen, 20; tarsus, 32; middle toe with claw, 37.
Young.—Manila market, August 14, 1902. Above olive and blackish brown, chin and throat white; remainder of under parts sooty brown mixed with white. Iris light green; upper mandible black; lower dark flesh; legs brown; nails black. Length, 200.
This little crake is either very shy or very scarce as few specimens are seen. It is usually found in dry brush-land or on forest paths and is extremely quick in making its escape.
66. LIMNOBÆNUS PAYKULLI (Ljungh).
PAYKULL’S CRAKE.
Rallus paykulli Ljungh, Sver. Vet. Akad. Handl. (1813), 258.
Porzana paykulli Steere, List Birds & Mams. Steere Exped. (1890), 82.
Limnobænus paykulli Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1894), 23, 149; Hand-List (1899), 1, 105; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 17.
Basilan (Steere Exp.). China, Eastern Siberia, Malay Peninsula, Java, Borneo.
“Adult male.—Similar to L. fuscus, and having red legs like the latter species; upper surface ashy brown, as also the wings and tail; head ashy brown, with a rufous tinge on the forehead; lores, sides of face, throat, and breast pale vinous-chestnut; chin whitish; sides of breast ashy brown; flanks and thighs white, barred with dusky blackish; under tail-coverts black, barred and tipped with white; axillars and under wing-coverts white, with dusky blackish bars. ‘Bill bluish gray, blackish on the culmen and about the tip, pea-green about the base; inside of mouth flesh-color; iris crimson; eyelid red; legs and toes salmon-color, brownish on the under surface of the tarsi, on the toes, and on their soles.’ (Swinhoe.) Length, 215; culmen, 28; wing, 119; tail, 55; tarsus, 38.
“Young (type of Rallina rufigenis).—Similar to the adult, but duller above, paler rufous below, the abdomen white with a vinous tinge; throat white; wing-coverts much more numerously banded with white.” (Sharpe.)
Steere is the only author who has recorded this species from the Philippines.
Genus AMAURORNIS Reichenbach, 1852.
Bill rather stout; base of upper mandible slightly swollen; legs and feet large; middle toe with claw longer than tarsus; plumage with neither spots nor bars.
Species.
a1. Chin, throat, and breast slate-gray. olivacea (p. 75)
a2. Chin, throat, and breast pure white. phœnicura (p. 76)
67. AMAURORNIS OLIVACEA (Meyen).
PHILIPPINE WATERHEN.
Gallinula olivacea Meyen, Nova Acta C. L-C. Acad. Nat. Cur. (1834), 16, Suppl. 1, 109, pl. 20.
Amaurornis olivacea Walden, Trans. Zool. Soc. (1875), 9, 231, pl. 33, fig. 1; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1894), 23, 153; Hand-List (1899), 1, 106; Grant and Whitehead, Ibis (1898), 247 (eggs); Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1901), 1, 120.
Amauronis olivacea McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1907), 17 (error).
Tin-gaó, Ticao; ba-na-tí-ran, Calayan; ba-hu-goc′, Batan.
Batan (McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Calayan (McGregor); Cebu (Everett, Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Leyte (Everett); Luzon (Meyen, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead); Masbate (McGregor); Mindanao (Platen, Goodfellow); Mindoro (McGregor); Negros (Keay); Panay (Bourns & Worcester); Samar (Bourns & Worcester); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor).
Adult (sexes alike).—Above olive-brown; below bluish slate-gray, most intense on breast, lighter on chin, throat, and middle of abdomen; flanks and thighs dull olive-brown; under tail-coverts ruddy brown. Iris red; bill sea-green; legs dirty yellow; nails brown. Length of a male from Bohol, 330; wing, 175; tail, 63; culmen from base, 37; tarsus, 65; middle toe with claw, 70. Length of a male from Calayan, 305; wing, 178; tail, 57; culmen from base, 41; tarsus, 69; middle toe with claw, 73. A female from Mindoro, May 6, 1905, measures: Length, 290; wing, 165; tail, 53; culmen from base, 37; tarsus, 57; middle toe with claw, 64.
“A common bird, snared in abundance by the natives. Two sets of eggs were obtained by us in Siquijor. The nest was in each case placed on a slight elevation, and was a mere heap of dried leaves and grasses. The ground-color of the eggs is rather a rich creamy buff. They are heavily blotched and spotted with a rich light chocolate-brown, the blotches being more numerous at the larger end, where they are often confluent. A few inconspicuous lilac markings are also present. The eggs measure from 40.6 to 43 in length, and from 29 to 32 in greatest breadth.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
Oates describes two eggs collected in Siquijor in February by the Steere Expedition. “The eggs of the Philippine crake are of a broad oval form, and they have but little gloss. The ground is creamy white, and this is spotted, streaked, and blotched, more thickly at the larger end than elsewhere, with reddish brown and underlying pale purple. Two examples measure respectively 41.9 by 30.9; 39.3 by 28.7.”
A nest of this species found at Balete, Mindoro, was well hidden in a clump of saw-grass. It was very weakly made of dry grass and had a deep cup. The single egg was heavily incubated when taken on May 20. It measures 41.6 by 30.9 mm. The ground-color is pale creamy white. Small spots and fine dots of reddish brown are scattered over the whole shell, but more numerously on the larger end where there are also two large blotches of lavender. A few small lavender dots are scattered over the entire surface.
68. AMAURORNIS PHŒNICURA (Pennant).
WHITE-BREASTED WATERHEN.
Gallinula phœnicurus Pennant, Ind. Zool. (1769), 10, pl. 9.
Amaurornis phœnicura Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1894), 23, 156; Hand-List (1899), 1, 106; Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1901), 1, 121, pl. 9, fig. 5.
Amaurornis phœnicura Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Birds (1898), 4, 173, fig. 36 (head).
Amauronis phœnicura McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 18 (error).
Sally-quawk, in general use.
Basilan (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Bongao (Everett); Cagayan Sulu (McGregor); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester); Cebu (McGregor); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Mindanao (Everett, Martens, Koch & Schadenberg, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Palawan (Platen, White); Panay (Bourns & Worcester); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Sulu (Guillemard); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester). Indian and Malay Peninsulas, Ceylon, Indo-Burmese Provinces, China, Greater and Lesser Sunda Islands,