A Manual of Philippine Birds. Richard C. McGregor
(sexes alike).—Above including wings dark slate-gray; middle of neck, back, and inner secondaries washed with olive; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts dull brown; forehead, eyebrow, face, sides of neck, chin, throat, and breast white; from behind eye a black streak separating the gray above from the white below, abdomen and thighs washed with light chestnut; flanks and under tail-coverts chestnut; some of the upper tail-coverts slightly chestnut; alula and primaries blackish, first feather of each edged with white; edge of wing white; under wing-coverts blackish, fringed with white; tail blackish. Iris dark brown; upper mandible red behind nostril, remainder dark green; lower mandible pea-green; legs yellowish brown or light brown.
Length, 292 to 305. A male from Danao, Cebu, August 2, 1906, measures: Wing, 147; tail, 63; culmen from base, 38; tarsus, 56; middle toe with claw, 65. A male from Palawan, January 17, 1906, measures: Wing, 156; tail, 69; culmen from base, 37; tarsus, 56; middle toe with claw, 64. A female from Basilan, December 21, 1906, measures: Wing, 147; tail, 58; culmen from base, 35; tarsus, 53; middle toe with claw, 63.
“A very common bird in marshy regions and along fresh-water streams. Called ‘sally-quawk’ by the natives from its notes.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
Genus GALLINULA Brisson, 1760.
Bill moderate, the culmen extending backward on the forehead to opposite center of eye and forming a tumid shield with rounded posterior margin; toes with a narrow fold on each side; middle toe without claw longer than tarsus; plumage black with white on flanks and under tail-coverts.
69. GALLINULA CHLOROPUS (Linnæus).
MOORHEN.
Fulica chloropus Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 152.
Gallinula chloropus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1894), 23, 169; Hand-List (1899), 1, 107; Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1898), 4, 175, fig. 37 (head); Grant and Whitehead, Ibis (1898), 246 (eggs); Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1901), 1, 123; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 18.
Ca-rab′ i-tu-mon′, Bohol.
Basilan (McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Calayan (McGregor); Cebu (Everett); Guimaras (Bourns & Worcester); Leyte (Everett); Luzon (Meyer, Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead, McGregor); Mindanao (Everett, Bourns & Worcester); Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester); Negros (Keay); Panay (Bourns & Worcester); Samar (Whitehead). Europe, Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius.
Adult male.—General color dark slaty gray; head, neck, chin, and throat black shaded into slate-gray posteriorly; back, rump, upper tail-coverts, and inner wing-feathers dark olive-brown; feathers on middle of abdomen more or less fringed with white; several long flank feathers with long white stripes on outer webs; crissum black; under tail-coverts pure white; wings blackish; edge of wing and of first primary white; under wing-coverts and axillars blackish with white tips; tail blackish. “Frontal shield and two-thirds of the bill deep lake-red, and tip of the latter greenish yellow for about one-third; legs olive-green, the broad scaling on the fore part of the tarsus, and the scales of the upper part of the toes, lemon-yellow; joint of heel dusky olive-green, with a shade of lemon-yellow immediately below the garter, which is dark lake-red; iris reddish.” (Sharpe.) Two males from Bohol measure: Wing, 157, 162; tail, 70, 73; bill from posterior margin of frontal shield, 43, 45; bill from nostril, 15, 16; tarsus, 52; middle toe with claw, 76, 77.
Adult female.—Similar to the male but smaller. A female from Basilan measures: 292 in length; wing, 138; tail, 63; culmen from posterior margin of frontal shield, 37; bill from nostril, 14; bill from gape, 27; tarsus, 49; middle toe with claw, 74.
Young.—Above richer brown, top of head washed with brown; below lighter than adult; chin, upper throat, and sides of face white mixed more or less with brown and dark gray; feathers on rest of under parts more or less fringed with brown and white; middle of abdomen pure white.
“The eggs of the moorhen are normally of a broad oval form and have a small amount of gloss. The ground-color varies much, being creamy white, pale greenish white, pale buff or pinkish buff. The markings consist of specks, spots, and bold blotches of deep reddish brown, and a few underlying pale purple spots. The combinations in which these markings occur are numerous. In some, the markings are all small and densely set over the shell; in others, spots are combined with huge blotches which are often confluent. As a rule the larger end of the egg is more thickly marked than the other parts. A few specimens are devoid of all markings except some pale purple blotches. Examples vary from 39.3 to 55 in length and from 27.9 to 36 in breadth.” (Oates.)
Four eggs collected by Whitehead in Samar, August 25, 1896, are thus described: “The eggs are perfectly similar to those laid by European moorhens, but the number of eggs in the clutch, as well as their relatively smaller size, is noteworthy. Measurements 42 by 39.” (Grant and Whitehead.)
Genus GALLICREX Blyth, 1849.
Bill stout and of moderate length; frontal shield pointed behind, much larger in males than in females, and in the breeding season terminating in a free horn-like process; legs and toes very long and heavy.
70. GALLICREX CINEREA (Gmelin).
WATERCOCK.
Fulica cinerea Gmelin, Syst. Nat. (1788), 1, pt. 2, 702.
Gallicrex cinerea Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1894), 23, 183; Hand-List (1899), 1, 108; Grant, Ibis (1895), 265; Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1898), 4, 176, fig. 38 (head); Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1901), 1, 125; pl. 10, fig. 6; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 18.
Can-nu-toc′, Manila; tub-tub, Ticao; tu-yud′, Bohol; tug-tug, Masbate.
Bantayan (McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Catanduanes (Whitehead); Cebu (Bourns & Worcester); Luzon (Dussumier, Cuming, Heriot, McGregor); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Mindanao (Bourns & Worcester, Goodfellow); Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester); Negros (Keay); Panay (Bourns & Worcester); Sibuyan (McGregor); Sulu (Guillemard); Tablas (Celestino); Ticao (McGregor). Ceylon, Burmese provinces to China and Japan, Malay and Indian Peninsulas, Greater Sunda Islands.
“Adult male.—General color above black, with a few remains of ashy gray margins to the feathers, or with brown edgings to the scapulars, lower back, and rump; upper wing-coverts blackish, broadly edged with ashy gray; bend of wing white; alula, primary-coverts, and quills blackish brown, slightly shaded with gray externally, first primary externally white; inner secondaries edged with light brown; tail-feathers blackish, edged with brown; head and neck all round and under surface of body deep black; a few whitish feathers on lower abdomen; under tail-coverts buffy white, with black bars; under wing-coverts black, barred and edged with white; axillars black like the sides of the breast. ‘Frontal shield and base of upper mandible deep red; remainder of bill yellow, a spot on each side of lower mandible red; frontal process or horn pinkish; legs plumbeous green; claws horn-color; iris reddish brown; eyelids plumbeous.’ (Oates.) Length, 419; culmen with frontal shield, 69; wing, 218; tail, 74; tarsus, 79.
“According to Oates, the male in winter has the fleshy process on the head reduced in size or nearly obsolete.
“Adult female.—General color above dark brown with a slight ashy shade, the feathers with sandy buff margins, so that the upper surface appears streaked; lower back and rump rather more uniform; wing-coverts ashy gray, the greater series browner, with fulvous margins like the inner secondaries, which have dusky frecklings also on the outer web; alula ashy brown, the outer feathers edged with white; primary-coverts and quills brown, externally shaded with ashy; first primary white along the