A NEW FORM OF CLAPPER RAIL.

(1)

iSSS.T

Sknnett

oh a Nc-v

Form

ofClapfcr Rail.

305

;uul cuntial tail-feathers moderately lengthened, liair-hrown, darkeston the riunp; rest(jf tailwhite.

Habitat.

Java,

Borneo and

Philip[)iiifs (Oatcs).

Formo.sa (Swinhoc).

J:iva (Diard).

Borneo

(Salvador!).

Ceylon (Legge). —

India, as far as

Scinde and

Ca.shmere,

Ceylon, China, Cochin-China, Malay Peninsula

(Oates).

This

stateof

plumage

isfrequently

regarded

asthatof the im-

mature

bird; but theseditTer,

according

to

Legge, by having

a fernigiiious stripe

over

the eye,front

neck

fulvous, the

golden neck

stiipcpaler,

and

a less

developed

chest

band. The

breed- ing

pliunage appears

to be

assumed by

the feathers

changing

color,

and

not

by

a moult. In

Chinese examples sometimes

the hind

neck golden

patch isvery large

and

theblack

border

very Inroad.

According

^to Ilinue.thisisashy species,

rumiingwith wonderfid

facilityover thefloating

weeds,

lotus leaves, etc.,

and

wlien ahiimetl,concealing itself

by

U'iug close to the ])]ants, with its

head and neck

stretchedout

on

a level

with

the liody

;

sometimes, when

possible, itwill sink half of its

body

in the water. ^It^isalsoanexpertdiver. It

breeds from June

to

about

the

middle

of

September, according

to locality.

The

nest,nearlv

two

feet indiaiueter, is

made

of

weeds and roughlv

put together,

sometimes

placed

on

the surface of the water, or

on

an island closeto the water.

The

eggs, four in nuiuber,

vary

in color froiu pale

brown

t<>adeejirufous,

and

areco\'ered

with

tangled linesof blackish, or reddish

brown.

Tiie shellhas a very lus- trous

appearance.

A NEW FORM OF CLAPPER RAIL.

BY geor(;e

b.

sennett.

Rallus

longirostris scottii, snbsp. nov.

Scott's Rail.

The

darkest ofallthe largel^ails. Prevailing coloron backver}-dark irown orhlack. 'i'hiscolor prevailstosuch anextentthat inmostadults ittlenf)ticewouldbe taken of theolivegrayedgings. ITnderparts also larkerandwith

much

less

ciimamon

than others of the genus. P'lanks

(2)

306

^Recent Lileni/m-e. IJulv

more

disliiictlv

hancd

dark

brown

amiwhile. Full!4ro\vn j'oung of the year darkbrown,but not so nearlylilackasadults.

Tv])es,

J

^ad. Collector'sNo. 4123, Dec. 27, 1S86; $ ^ad. C<;llector's No.4127,Jan.8,1SS7.

Haiutat

:

West Coast

ofFlorida.

Types

in

American Museum

of

Natural

History,

New York.

Collected

by

VV.

E. D.

vScott,

Tarpon Springs,

Fla.

Immature

birds in

National Museum, Washington,

taken at Charlotte

Harbor,

Florida.

I

had

intendedfor this

nimibcr

of

'The

Aid^,' in

comiection with

thisshort description oftlie

new form,

a|)aper

on

theentire

group

of large Rails.

Although

I

have had huge

series at

my command

for study, yet the

promise

of ^till

many more iVom

various localities, leads

me

to defer the article for a future nmn'.)er,

when

it

can

be

more

satisfactory.

RECENT LITERATURE.

Palmen's Contributions to the

Knowledge

of the Bird

Fauna

ofthe SiberianCoastsofthe ArcticSea.*

— The

celebrated authorof the^'Zug- strasbciiderVoyel^'hasyiven us in theworkbefore usone of the most importantand comprehensive,nott« sayt/ic most imjiortant and com- prehensivetreatiseon Arctic birds ever written.

The

public hasbeen impatientlyawaitingthepublication"oftiieornithological resultsofNor- denskiold's famous expedition (1878-1S79),andtliough long delayed,it isneverthelesshighly

welcome

tothestudents ofnorthern ornithology.

The

working upof the material couldnothavefalleninto betterhands, and

we

arethankful that theauthorhas not only treated of the species collected,but thathealso included thosefoundbyothers,andparticularly that hehas given usaspecialchapter on the distribution of the species within the entire Arctici)rovince,accompanied byacomprehensivebibli- ography.

Hitherto

we

have had noexactknowledgeof the birdsoccurringalong the Arctic coasts of Siberia, except afew scattered notes as tothe birds inhabiting theextreme westor theextremeeast of theterritory,and Mid-

*Bidrag|till kannedomen

cm

<

Ve- ga-Exped.Vetensk.|lakttag,V, pp. 241-511. (Stockholm,1887).