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); Cagayancillo (McGregor);
Camiguin N. (McGregor); Catanduanes (Whitehead); Cebu (Everett,
Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Dinagat (Everett); Leyte (Everett);
Luzon (Cuming, Meyer, Everett, Bourns & Worcester, Whitehead,
McGregor); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester,
McGregor); Mindanao (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Goodfellow);
Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Negros (Everett, Keay);
Panay (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Romblon (Bourns &
Worcester, McGregor); Samar (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester);
Sibuyan (McGregor); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester, Celestino);
Ticao (McGregor); Verde (McGregor).
Adult (sexes alike).--Above olive-brown with a few, obscure, black
lines on forehead; lores and circumocular area black, continued as a
wide black band behind eye to side of nape; below this a wide white
band from gape to neck, slightly washed with chestnut at its end;
chin gray; throat and lower part of face black; lower throat and
rest of lower parts black profusely banded with white; vent and under
tail-coverts washed with clay-brown; a wide band of chestnut across
breast; under wing-coverts and axillars barred with black and white
like the breast. Iris red; bill, legs, and nails brown. Three males:
Length, 317 to 330; wing, 151 to 155; tail, 54 to 65; exposed culmen,
41 to 43; tarsus, 52 to 53; middle toe with claw, 52 to 55. Two
females: Length, 305, 317; wing, 142, 144; tail, 51, 60; exposed
culmen, 39, 41; tarsus, 51, 52; middle toe with claw, 51, 52.
Young.--Resembles the adult but has more white on the chin; band
across breast wider and olive-brown; vent and under tail-coverts
barred with reddish brown.
"H. torquata usually deposits four eggs, more rarely three. The
ground-color of the egg is creamy white, sparingly marked with spots
and a few blotches of brown varying from dark chocolate to reddish,
and with more numerous spots and blotches of pale lilac; all the
markings more numerous at the larger end. Ten eggs average 38 by
28.4." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)
The Philippine rail is the most abundant species of its family with
the possible exception of Poliolimnas cinereus; both species are
often taken in snares.
Genus RALLINA Reichenbach, 1849.
The species of this genus are of small size with short stout bills;
middle toe with claw shorter than tarsus; head, neck, and chest
chestnut; sides and abdomen barred with white.
Species.
a1. Wing-coverts broadly barred with white or buffy-white. ... fasciata
(p. 70)
a2. Wing-coverts uniform or with few irregular white
bars. ... eurizonoides (p. 70)