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.