Chapter VI: Part 6

_Characters._--Adult: A small quail with upper parts brown
splotched with black and streaked with buff; males with face and
throat black surrounded by white line, upper breast blue gray,
lower breast, belly and under tail-coverts and tail near "burnt
sienna"; females lighter than males, underparts pale brown,
mottled with blackish on breast and sides of body; bill dark lead
colored, feet yellow.

_Measurements._--Three adult males from Guam measure: wing, 66,
67, 67; culmen, 9.2, 10.0, 10.3; tarsus, 18.1, 18.7, 22.6.

_Weights._--Two adult males taken by NAMRU2 at Guam weigh 34.5 and
35.5 grams.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 3 males from Mariana Islands,
USNM--Guam (Feb. 24, June 13, 28).

_Remarks._--Seale (1901:37) writes that the Painted Quail was introduced to Guam from Manila, or the island of Luzon in the Philippine Islands, by Captain Pedro Duarty of the Spanish Army in 1894. It was a successful introduction; the bird is well adapted to the grasslands, open hillsides, and fallow rice paddies. The bird appears to offer no serious competition to native species, because there are few native birds which depend largely on this habitat. The NAMRU2 party obtained specimens at Mt. Santa Rosa and near Agat; others were seen as singles or pairs near Umatac and on Mount Tenjo. Strophlet (1946:536) observed the birds in the southern part of Guam in 1945. He found them as singles or pairs in the months of September, October and November. Wilfred Crabb reported a covey of seven birds in June, 1945. Two males taken in June had enlarged testes. Seale (1901:37) obtained a nest of seven eggs.

=Gallus gallus= (Linnaeus)

Red Jungle Fowl

_Phasianus Gallus_ Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 158.
(Type locality, "India orientali, Pouli condor etc.," restricted to
Pulo Condor, off mouths of the Mekong.)

_Phasianus Gallus_ Kittlitz, Obser. Zool., in Lutké, Voy. "Le
Séniavine," 3, 1836, p. 284 (Ualan = Kusaie).

_Gallus bankiva_ Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London,
1872, pp. 89, 103 (Pelew); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875,
pp. 5, 29 (Palau); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus.
Godeffroy, 1881, pp. 281, 298, 353 (Ponapé, Mortlock, Ruk);
Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6,
1890-1891 (1891), p. 59 (Pelew, Caroline, Marianne, Marshall);
Oustalet, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat., Paris, (3), 8, 1896, p. 25
(Saypan, Palaos, Marshall); Hartert, Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 61
(Saipan); Seale, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p.
38 (Marianas); Safford, Osprey, 1902, p. 70 (Marianas).

_Gallus ferrugineus_ Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1877 (1878),
p. 780 (Ponapé); _idem_, Ibis, 1881, p. 114 (Ponapé, Kushai).

_Gallus gallus bankiva_ Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia,
1922, p. 41 (Saipan, Pelew, Ponapé, Marshall).

_Gallus gallus_ Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 1, 1927, p.
21 (Micronesia); Cram, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 140, 1927, pp. 238,
328 (Guam); Bequaert, Mushi, 12, 1939, p. 81 (Kusaie); _idem_,
Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 16, 1941, p. 266 (Kusaie);
Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, pp. 57, 286 (Marianas,
Carolines, Palaus); Wharton and Hardcastle, Journ. Parasitology,
32, 1946, pp. 294, 310 (Ulithi, Garakayo); Stott, Auk, 1947, p.
525 (Saipan).

_Gallus gallus domesticus_ Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932,
p. 198 (Marianas, Palaus, Carolines, Marshalls).

_Gallus gallus micronesiae_ Hachisuka, Tori, 10, 1939 (1940), p.
600 (Type locality, Truk, also from Pelew, Rota, Yap, Ponapé);
Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 222 (Saipan, Rota,
Babelthuap, Koror, Yap, Truk, Lukunor, Ponapé, Kusaie, Marshalls).

_Gallus gallus gallus_ Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no.
15, 1948, p. 47 (Peleliu, Ngabad, Garakayo, Ulithi, Truk).

_Geographic range._--Southeastern Asia and Malaysia; introduced
into many islands of Oceana. In Micronesia: Mariana
Islands--Saipan, Rota; Palau Islands--Kayangel, Babelthuap, Koror,
Garakayo, Peleliu, Ngabad, Angaur; Caroline Islands--Ulithi, Yap,
Truk, Lukunor, Ponapé, Kusaie; Marshall Islands--exact locality not
known.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 3 (1 male, 2 females) as
follows: Palau Islands, USNM--Garakayo, 1 (Sept. 19)--Peleliu, 1
(Sept. 13)--Ngabad, 1 (Sept. 11).

_Parasites._--Cram (1927:238, 328) found the round worms
(Nematoda), _Dispharnyx nasuta_ and _Oxyspirura mansoni_ in birds
from Guam. Bequaert (1939:81 and 1941:266) found the fly
(Hippoboscidae) _Ornithoctona plicata_, on fowl from Kusaie.
Wharton and Hardcastle (1946:294, 310) obtained the chiggers
(Acarina), _Neoschöngastia yeomansi_ and _N. ewingi_ from fowl at
Ulithi and Garakayo.

_Remarks._--The Red Jungle Fowl has been introduced in Micronesia, as it has been in other parts of Oceania. It is found on many of the islands of Micronesia, including the volcanic islands and the atolls. The NAMRU2 party did not find feral fowl at Guam but found the wary birds at Ulithi and in the Palaus. The birds at Ulithi were small and of a mixed breed. At Palau some fine examples of typical jungle fowl were observed. Coultas obtained similar specimens at Ponapé and Kusaie. The natives have apparently allowed these birds to go wild, but catch them for food. These wild stocks may represent the earlier "liberations" while domestic fowl kept by natives at present appear to include several other breeds probably obtained from Europeans.

The committee that prepared the Hand-list of Japanese Birds (Hachisuka _et al._, 1942:222) points out that although many ornithologists believe the Red Jungle Fowl to be introduced in Micronesia and other parts of Oceania, it is their opinion (based on a series of more than 100 skins before them) that the population in Micronesia is racially distinct. They further comment, as did Hachisuka (1939b:600), that one may find hybrids between these birds and the domestic fowl belonging to the native peoples; this is commonly seen on the more populated islands such as Koror and Saipan. I have no doubt that these skins show distinct features; nevertheless, I am reluctant to recognize these by subspecific name, since the birds may be a mixture of domestic strains introduced by man at different times after the jungle fowl was first brought by the early Micronesians. It seems that the production of hybrids between the feral and domestic fowl, which we find there today, may have been going on ever since the European colonists arrived with their fancy breeds of chickens.

=Phasianus colchicus= Linnaeus

Ring-necked Pheasant

_Phasianus colchicus_ Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p.
158. (Type locality, Africa, Asia = Rion.)

_Phasianus torquatus_ Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no.
15, 1948, p. 47 (Guam).

_Geographic range._--Eastern China and northeastern Tonkin. Widely
introduced into North America, Europe, and New Zealand. In
Micronesia: Mariana Islands--Guam (introduced).

_Remarks._--On July 4, 1945, fifty-seven Ring-necked Pheasants (sixteen cocks and forty-one hens) were liberated at Guam by personnel of the U. S. Navy. The birds were eleven weeks old when released, having been brought by plane from the hatcheries of the State Division of Game and Fish in California. Twenty-four birds were liberated at the site of CincPoa headquarters near Mt. Tenjo. Thirty-three were placed near the FEA dairy farm, approximately one and one-fourth miles west of Price School. One month after release the birds were present at the liberation sites, although there were reports that some had drifted as far away as a mile or more. The birds were not banded. This liberation has been reported on by Quinn (1946:32-33) and by the author (1946b:211 and 1948:47). In using the name _P. colchicus_, I am following Delacour (in McAtee, 1945:8) and the twenty-third supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union check-list of North American birds (Auk, 65, 1948:440).

=Rallus philippensis pelewensis= (Mayr)

Banded Rail

_Hypotaenidia philippensis pelewensis_ Mayr, Amer. Mus. Novit., no.
609, 1933, p. 3. (Type locality, Palau Islands.)

_Rallus philippensis_ Hartlaub, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1867
(1868), p. 831 (Pelew); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875,
pp. 5, 37 (Palau); _idem_, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1877, p. 587
(Palau); Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden,
no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 59 (Pelew); Finsch, Deut. Ver. zum
Schulze der Vogelwelt, 18, 1893, p. 459, Palau).

_Rallus pectoralis_ Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London,
1868, pp. 8, 117, 118 (Pelew); _idem_, Proc. Zool. Soc. London,
1872, pp. 89, 107 (Pelew).

_Eulabeornis forsteri_ Gray (part), Hand-list Birds, 3, 1871, p.
57 (Pelew).

_Hypotaenidia philippensis_ Salvadori (part), Ornith. Papuasia, 3,
1882, p. 261 (Pelew); Sharpe (part), Cat. Birds British Mus., 23,
1894, p. 39 (Pelew); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922,
p. 42 (Pelew).

_Eulabeornis philippensis?_ Mathews, Birds Australia, 1,
1910-1911, p. 199 (Pelew).

_Hypotaenidia philippinensis philippensis_ Hand-list Japanese
Birds, rev., 1932, p. 196 (Palau).

_Rallus philippensis pelewensis_ Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed.,
1942, p. 220 (Babelthuap, Koror); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific,
1945, p. 287 (Palau); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no.
15, 1948, p. 48 (Peleliu, Garakayo).

_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Palau Islands--Babelthuap, Koror,
Arakabesan, Garakayo, Peleliu, Angaur.

_Characters._--Adult: A large, slender rail with black crown
streaked with brown; superciliary stripe ashy-gray, lighter toward
bill; eye stripe brown becoming more rufous behind eye and on
nape; chin ashy-gray; throat near "mouse gray" tinged with olive
especially toward breast; breast, belly and sides barred with
black and white, with a broad "tawny" band on breast; posterior
part of belly and vent buffy with some barring; under tail-coverts
barred with black, white, and buff; mantle black with feathers
subterminally barred with white; back, scapulars, inner
wing-coverts, and rump black with white spotting and feathers
edged with olive brown; outer wing-coverts, secondaries, and
primaries barred with black and rufous with some buffy-white on
outer webs; under wing barred black and white with some brownish
markings; tail with both bars and blotches of black, white, and
buffy-rufous; maxilla horn-colored; mandible yellowish; feet light
brown.

_R. p. pelewensis_ resembles _R. p. philippensis_ Linnaeus of the
Philippines, but is darker with nape more rufous-brown; upper
parts marked with narrower and darker edgings to feathers and with
pronounced whitish spotting.
Resembles _R. p. chandleri_ (Mathews) of Celebes, but with wing
shorter; more pronounced band on breast; bird darker above and
below; rump and upper tail-coverts less spotted.

_Measurements._--Specimens in the collection of the United States
National Museum measure as follows: four adult males--wing, 130-134
(132); tail, 59-63 (61); full culmen, 30-37 (34); tarsus, 38-45
(43); four adult females--wing, 125-130 (127); tail, 54-61 (58);
full culmen, 29-35 (32); tarsus, 38-42 (40). Mayr (1933c:4) lists
the following measurements: twelve adult males--127-143 (134.6);
tail, 54-65 (60); exposed bill, 25-28 (27.7); tarsus, 41-46 (43.5);
three adult females--wing, 129, 136, 136; tail, 56, 57, 58; exposed
bill, 23, 24, 25; tarsus, 40, 41, 42.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 27 (18 males, 9 females), as
follows: Palau Islands, USNM--Garakayo, 4 (Sept. 18, 19,
20)--Peleliu, 4 (Aug. 27, 28, Sept. 16)--Arakabesan, 1 (Nov. 26);
AMNH--exact locality not given, 18 (Oct., Nov., Dec.).

_Nesting._--The condition of the gonads in specimens obtained
indicates that the breeding season is principally in the fall and
winter. Of adult rails taken by Coultas in October, November and
December, 1931, 6 of 12 males and 3 or 4 females had enlarged
gonads. In September, 1945, the NAMRU2 party obtained two adult
males with swollen testes. Marshall (1949:219) recorded breeding in
September and November.

_Food habits._--Stomachs of rails obtained by the NAMRU2 party
contained insects, seeds and small mollusks. Coultas (field notes)
notes that the birds eat snails, roots and other vegetable matter.

_Remarks._--_Rallus philippensis_ is geographically widespread, being found from Tasmania and Australia north to Malaysia and the Philippines west to Cocos Keeling Island east to Melanesia and western Polynesia and north to the Palau Islands. The species is divisible into several subspecies. The one in the Palaus, although distinctive, does not appear to have undergone a higher degree of differentiation (even though isolated as a small population) than any of the subspecies in Malaysia or Melanesia. Perhaps the form on Palau as well as the relatively undifferentiated _Poliolimnas cinereus_ are rather recent invaders of Micronesia, as compared with _Rallus owstoni_ and _Aphanolimnas monasa_.

The Banded Rail is less secretive in habits than _Rallus owstoni_ of Guam, and neither was seen to fly. At Angaur, Peleliu and Garakayo, the NAMRU2 party found the rail in areas of swamp and marsh as well as in the rocky uplands; it probably prefers the former habitats. Several rails were observed and shot in open places, but they probably prefer to remain in dense cover. Coultas found the birds at taro patches and swamps. I watched a rail feeding along an open trail on Garakayo. The bird was eating small mollusks and other items which were in the open area. Being a true skulker, the bird would make a quick dash to the feeding place, remain only a few moments, hurriedly return to the protective cover, and then repeat the process. The best means that I found of obtaining these birds was using traps baited with peanut butter and oatmeal. The traps had to be visited frequently or the ants made short work of the captured birds.

=Rallus owstoni= (Rothschild)

Guam Rail

_Hypotaenidia owstoni_ Rothschild, Novit. Zool., 2, 1895, p. 481.
(Type locality, Guam.)

_?Rallus philippinus_ Gray, Cat. Birds Trop. Is. Pacific Ocean,
1859, p. 51 (Marian or Ladrone Is.).

_Rallus pectoralis_ Finsch and Hartlaub, Fauna Centralpolynesiens,
1867, p. 157 (Guam).

_Eulabeornis forsteri_ Gray (part), Hand-list Birds, 3, 1871, p.
57 (Marian).

_Hypotaenidia philippensis_ Pelzeln, Ibis, 1873, p. 41 (Marianne
Isl.); Salvadori (part), Ornith. Papuasia, 3, 1882, p. 261
(Marianas); Sharpe (part), Cat. Birds British Mus., 23, 1894, p.
39 (Guam).

_Rallus philippinus_ Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool.
Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 59 (Guam).

_Hypotaenidia owstoni_ Hartert, Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 62
(Guam); Safford, Osprey, 1902, pp. 41, 67 (Guam); _idem_, The
Plant World, 7, 1904, p. 265 (Guam); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 2, 1904,
p. 961 (Mariannes); Safford, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb., 9, 1905, p.
79 (Guam); Cox, Island of Guam, 1917, p. 21 (Guam); Kuroda, in
Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 42 (Guam); Hartert, Novit.
Zool., 34, 1927, p. 22 (Guam); Mathews, Syst. Avium
Australasianarum, 1, 1927, p. 84 (Guam); Hand-list Japanese Birds,
rev., 1932, p. 196 (Guam).

_Hypotaenidia marchei_ Oustalet, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat.,
Paris, (3), 8, 1896, p. 32 (Type locality, Guam).

_Hypotaenidia oustini_ Seale, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus.,
1, 1901, p. 30 (Guam).

_Rallus owstoni_ Peters, Check-list Birds World, 2, 1934, p. 166
(Guam); Bryan, Guam Rec., vol. 13, no. 2, 1936, p. 15 (Guam);
Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 220 (Guam); Mayr, Birds
Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 287 (Guam); _idem_, Audubon Mag., 47,
1945, p. 279 (Guam); Watson, Raven, 17, 1946, p. 41 (Guam);
Strophlet, Auk, 1946, p. 536 (Guam); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll.,
vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 48 (Guam).

_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Mariana Islands--Guam.

_Characters._--Adult: A large rail with head, neck, and eye stripe
near "mummy brown" with feathers on sides of neck tipped with
"russet"; superciliary stripe to back of neck, throat and upper
breast near "mouse gray"; mantle, back, scapulars, and some upper
wing-coverts dark olive-brown becoming browner on rump and upper
tail-coverts; wings dark with brownish spots and barred with
white; lower breast, abdomen, under tail-coverts, and tail
blackish with white barrings; bill lead colored; feet dark brown;
tibia brown; iris red.

_Measurements._--Four adult males measure: wing, 120-123 (121);
tail, 46-54 (50); full culmen, 37-43 (41); tarsus, 47-51 (50); six
adult females measure: wing, 108-118 (112); tail, 38-46 (42); full
culmen, 36-39 (37); tarsus, 43-47 (45).

_Weights._--The NAMRU2 party obtained specimens with the following
weights: two adult males 256, 257; four females 147, 153, 210, 252
grams.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 13 (5 males, 6 females, 2
unsexed), from Mariana Islands, USNM--Guam (Jan. 29, May 8, June
19, 20, 23, 28, 30, July 14, 19, 23, Sept. 8).

_Nesting._--A nest was found by McElroy of the NAMRU2 party at Guam
on October 24, 1945, in dense grass on a hillside near Mount Santa
Rosa. The nest contained three eggs, which the author (1948:48)
describes as "white with a pinkish cast and a scattering of small
spots of colors near 'russet' and near 'pear blue' which are
concentrated at the large ends. They measure 37.5 by 29.1, 39.1 by
28.0, and 40.7 by 29.0." Downey, black chicks were found on April
1, May 16, and May 26. M. Dale Arvey found a chick on August 2,
1946, near Tumon Bay. A parent bird with young ones was seen near
Merizo on October 2. A male taken on January 26 had enlarged
gonads. Seale (1901:30) obtained a black chick in June or July. On
the basis of the above observations it seems that the nesting
season extends from spring to fall, although Marshall (1949:219)
assumes that this rail breeds the year around.

_Remarks._--The Guam Rail was first reported by Quoy and Gaimard who called it "Ralê tiklin," but was not described as new until 1895 by Rothschild. It appears to be equally at home in upland grassy areas and in jungle areas. The species was not seen frequently by the NAMRU2 party, although birds were occasionally observed crossing the roads. Few birds were shot; most of the specimens were taken in rat traps, which may be the most satisfactory method of obtaining them. Coultas took his specimens with the aid of a dog. On June 19, 1945, a small patch of woodland was being removed by a bulldozer. Four rails, which were hiding in this thicket, were surrounded and three were captured by hand. These birds tried to escape over the cleared ground by running with wings flapping but made no effort to fly. I am inclined to believe, as the natives do, that these birds are virtually incapable of actual flight.

The Guam Rail usually appeared to be a quiet bird, but at Tarague Point on July 12, 1945, I heard its loud penetrating cry; it was a series of rapid screeches. At the same time rapid movement made considerable noise in the undercover. The bird making the call suddenly appeared, either rapidly chasing, or being chased by, another rail. The birds had abandoned their usual skulking habits and had little concern for the observer. I took this to be breeding behavior, comparable to that of some of the North American rails during the mating period.

The Guam Rail is probably not in serious danger of extermination. It is utilized by the natives as food; they capture the bird, using dogs and trail snares. Its skulking habits and ability to inhabit most types of cover on the island should insure its existence for a long time to come.

_Evolutionary history._--_Rallus owstoni_ is endemic to the island of Guam with no closely related forms nearby. It is one of the several rails found in the Pacific which live on isolated islands. In comparison with other species in the region, it has some resemblance to both _R. torquatus_ and _R. philippensis_. In general, the underparts of _R. owstoni_ resemble those of the _R. philippensis_ group, although the upper parts resemble somewhat those of _R. torquatus_. Certain specimens of _R. owstoni_ have a slight indication of a pale pectoral band. The bill is shorter and heavier than that of _R. torquatus_, possibly more like that of _R. philippensis_. The short rounded wing is a distinctive character. The bird came from an ancestral stock possibly resembling _R. philippensis_ and probably originated in the Philippine or Papuan areas. It may have invaded Micronesia at an early date and may have had a wider distribution in the islands in former times. Perhaps this same invasion resulted in the establishment of _R. wakensis_ (Rothschild) at Wake. The supposed route of colonization is shown in figure 9.

=Rallina fasciata= (Raffles)

Malay Banded Crake

_Rallus fasciatus_ Raffles, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 13, pt. 2,
1822, p. 328. (Type locality, Benkulen, western Sumatra.)

_Rallina fasciata_ Hartlaub, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1867 (1868),
p. 831 (Pelew); Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London,
1868, pp. 7, 118 (Pelew); _idem_, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872,
pp. 89, 106 (Pelew); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp.
5, 37 (Palau); Salvadori, Ornith. Papuasia, 3, 1882, p. 264
(Pelew); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6,
1890-1891 (1891), p. 60 (Pelew); Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus.,
23, 1894, p. 75 (Pelew); Finsch, Deut. Ver. zum Schutze der
Vogelwelt, 18, 1893, p. 459 (Palau); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds
Micronesia, 1922, p. 41 (Pelew); Mathews, Syst. Avium
Australasianarum, 1, 1927, p. 88 (Pelew); Hand-list Japanese Birds,
rev., 1932, p. 196 (Palau); Peters, Check-list Birds World, 2,
1934, p. 171 (Pelew); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p.
221 (Palau); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 287 (Palau);
Delacour, Birds Malaysia, 1947, p. 77 (Palau).

_Geographic range._--Burma east and south to Malaysia and the
Philippines. In Micronesia: Palau--exact locality unknown.

_Remarks._--The Malay Banded Crake is known in the Palau Islands from birds taken by captains Tetens, Heinsohn, and Peters and by Kubary according to Finsch (1875: 37). It has not been taken by later collectors. Two unsexed and undated skins are in the collection of the American Museum of Natural History; these are from the Kubary collection.

=Rallina eurizonoides eurizonoides= (Lafresnaye)

Philippine Banded Crake

_Gallinula eurizonoïdes_ Lafresnaye, Rev. Zool., 1845, p. 368. (No
locality; the type agrees with specimens from the Philippine
Islands.)

_Rallina eurizonoides eurizonoides_ Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev.
1932, p. 196 (Koror); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p.
221 (Koror).

_Rallina eurizonoides_ subsp. Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945,
p. 302 (Palau).

_Geographic range._--Philippine Islands. In Micronesia: Palau
Islands--Koror.

_Remarks._--This crake is apparently a straggler to western Micronesia from the Philippine area.

=Aphanolimnas monasa= (Kittlitz)

Kusaie Black Rail

_Rallus monasa_ Kittlitz, Denks. Riese russ. Amer. Micron. und
Kamchat., 2, 1858, p. 30. (Type locality, Kushai.)

_Rallus tabuensis?_ Kittlitz, Obser. Zool., in Lutké, Voy. "Le
Séniavine," 3, 1836, p. 286 (Ualan).

_Ortygometra tabuensis_ Finsch, Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, pp. 297,
307 (Kuschai); _idem_, Ibis, 1881, pp. 106, 109 (Kushai);
Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6,
1890-1891 (1891), p. 60 (Ualan).

_Kittlitzia monasa_ Hartlaub, Abhandl. nat. Ver. Bremen, 12, 1892,
p. 391 (Kuschai); Finsch, Mitth. Ornith. Ver. Wien, 17, 1893, p. 1
(Kuschai).

_Aphanolimnas monasa_ Sharpe, Bull. British Ornith. Club, 1892, p.
20 (Kuschai); Finsch, Deut. Ver. zum Schulze der Vogelwelt, 18,
1893, p. 457, pl. 4 (Ualan); Wiglesworth, Ibis, 1893, p. 214
(Kushai); Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Museum, 23, 1894, p. 115
(Kushai); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 110, 113 (Ualan);
Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 1, 1927, p. 93 (Caroline
Islands); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 197 (Kusaie);
Peters, Check-list Birds World, 2, 1934, p. 189 (Kusaie);
Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 221 (Kusaie); Mayr,
Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 288 (Kusaie); _idem_, Audubon
Mag., 47, 1945, p. 280 (Kusaie).

_Porzana tabuensis_ Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 23, 1894, p.
111 (Kushai).

_Pennula monasa_ Dubois, Syn. Avium, 2, 1904, p. 969 (Kuschai).

_Porzana tabuensis tabuensis_ Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds
Micronesia, 1922, p. 42 (Kusaie).

_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Caroline Islands--Kusaie (probably
extinct).

_Characters._--Sharpe (1894:115) gives the following description:
"Adult. Black with a bluish-grey reflexion; quills and tail
somewhat browner; inner wing-coverts brownish with white spotting,
outer edge of first primary dull brownish, chin and middle of the
throat somewhat paler; bill blackish (Hartlaub.)."

_Remarks._--Two specimens of this rail are known. The two were taken by Kittlitz on his visit to Kusaie in December and January of 1827-'28. Coultas made a search for the bird in 1931 and failed to obtain it; he suggested that the high population of introduced rodents may have been a factor contributing to its extinction. The bird is considered to be extinct by the authors of the Hand-list of Japanese Birds (Hachisuka _et al._, 1942:221).

The two known specimens are in Leningrad, and Mayr sent examples of _Porzana tabuensis_ there for comparison. The following is a translation of the letter received by Mayr from Boris Stegmann dated at Leningrad, December 7, 1937.

"I have compared the two specimens of _Porzana tabuensis_ with our specimens of _Aphanolimnas monasa_. The difference is in my opinion of generic value. _Aphanolimnas_ is distinctly larger and more robust. The bill is not only absolutely but also relatively longer. Its length (measured from the forehead) reaches to the end of the second phalanx of the middle toe while it not nearly reaches it in _tabuensis_. The proportions of feet and toes are the same in both, but the feet are distinctly heavier in _Aphanolimnas_. The wings are relatively shorter in _Aphanolimnas_ and the wing feathers are very soft. The wing is also much more rounded, the first primary is about 21 mm. shorter than the wing tip. The tail consists of very soft loose feathers which resemble only distantly true tail feathers. It is therefore questionable whether this bird was at all able to fly.

"The coloration is in general dull black, brownish black on head and wings, chin and upper throat are dark slate colored lighter in the middle. The under wing and tail-coverts are marked with scattered white spots (querflecken). The first primary has an irregular whitish brown margin on the outer web. The bill is dark and the feet yellowish."

Possibly this rail represents an ancient colonization of Kusaie from an ancestral stock of _Porzana_ in Polynesia. Mayr (1941b:203) is also of this opinion, and if this is true there is no close relationship between _Aphanolimnas_ and the rails at Guam and Wake, _Rallus owstoni_ and _R. wakensis_, which are probably colonizers from the Philippines or the Papuan area. Mayr (1943:46) remarks further that the Hawaiian flightless rail (_Peuula_) is of doubtful taxonomic position, but may be related to the "_Aphanolimnas_-_Porzanoidea_-_Nesophylax_ stock," although there is no evidence that _Pennula_ is not related to _Rallus_. Supposed colonization routes are shown in figure 9.

=Poliolimnas cinereus micronesiae= Hachisuka

White-browed Rail

_Poliolimnas cinereus micronesiae_ Hachisuka, Bull. British Ornith.
Club, 59, 1939, p. 151. (Type locality, Yap.)

_Ortygometra quadristrigata_ Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc.
London, 1868, pp. 8, 118 (Pelew); _idem_, Proc. Zool. Soc. London,
1872, pp. 90, 107 (Pelew, Uap).

_Ortygometra cinerea_ Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp.
5, 38 (Palau, Yap); _idem_, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 577
(Ruk); Salvadori, Ornith. Papuasia, 3, 1882, p. 273 (Yap, Pelew);
Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6,
1890-1891 (1891), p. 61 (Pelew, Yap, Ruk); Finsch, Deut. Ver. zum
Schulze der Vogelwelt, 18, 1893, p. 459 (Palau).

_Ortygometra cinerea = quadristrigata_ Schmeltz and Krause,
Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 353 (Ruk).

_Poliolimnas cinereus_ Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 23, 1894,
p. 130 (Pelew, Yap, Ruk); Hartert, Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 64
(Guam); _idem_, Novit. Zool., 7, 1900, p. 9 (Ruk); Scale, Occ.
Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p. 30 (Guam); Safford,
Osprey, 1902, p. 67 (Mariannes); _idem_, The Plant World, 7, 1904,
p. 265 (Guam); _idem_, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb., 9, 1905, p. 79
(Guam); Cox, Island of Guam, 1917, p. 21 (Guam); Kuroda, in
Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 42 (Guam, Pelew, Yap, Ruk).

_Porzana cinerea_ Stresemann, Novit. Zool., 21, 1914, p. 54 (Guam,
Truk).

_Porzana cinerea ocularis_ Hartert, Novit. Zool., 31, 1924, p. 264
(Ruk, Guam).

_Poliolimnas cinereus collingwoodi_ Mathews, Syst. Avium
Australasianarum, 1, 1927, p. 95 (Pelew, Marianne, Carolines);
Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 197 (Guam, Koror, Yap,
Truk); Hachisuka, Birds Philippine Islands, 1, 1932, p. 236
(Marianne, Pelew, Caroline); Peters, Check-list Birds World, 2,
1934, p. 198 (Marianne, Caroline, Pelew); Bryan, Guam Rev., vol.
13, no. 2, 1936, p. 15 (Guam); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific,
1945, p. 288 (Guam, Palau, Yap, Truk, Bikini); Delacour and Mayr,
Birds Philippines, 1946, p. 64 (Micronesia); Baker, Smithson.
Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 48 (Ulithi?, Truk).

_Porzana cinerea collingwoodi_ Rensch, Mitt. Zool., 1931, p. 468
(Marianne, Karolinen, Palau).

_Poliolimnas cinereus micronesiae_ Yamashina, Tori, 10, 1940, p.
679 (Bikini); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 221
(Guam, Babelthuap, Koror, Yap, Truk, Bikini).

_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Mariana Islands--Guam; Palau
Islands--Koror, Babelthuap; Caroline Islands--Yap, Ulithi?, Truk;
Marshall Islands--Bikini.

_Characters._--Adult: A slightly built, long-legged rail with
forehead and anterior crown light gray with darker, slate-colored
feather shafts; color more olive-brown on occiput and nape;
eyestripe dark slate extending to occiput; superciliary from bill
to eye, and stripe below eye, white; chin and throat ashy-white;
sides of head, neck and breast ashy-gray, lighter on breast and
whitish on abdomen; sides of abdomen ashy-brown becoming more
buffy on tibia and under tail-coverts; mantle olive-colored
becoming lighter and more brownish on back, rump, and scapulars;
wing-coverts similar in color but feathers with broad dark brown
shaft-marks; wings brown, first primary with whitish outer web;
under wing gray with some lighter streaks; tail dark brown,
lighter on edges; bill horn colored, tan below; feet brown; iris
vermillion.

Immature: Resembles adult, but head more rufous, upper parts
marked with buffy rufous; eye stripe light rufous-brown;
underparts tinged with rufous.

_P. c. micronesiae_ differs from _P. c. collingwoodi_ Mathews of
the Philippines by having more pale gray and less olivaceous-brown
on the nape and shoulder; darker on the under tail-coverts; and
having a shorter culmen. _P. c. brevipes_ (Ingram) of the Volcano
Islands differs from _P. c. micronesiae_ by being paler on upper
parts, particularly back and wing-coverts and more washed with buff
below; by having a shorter, thicker culmen; and by having a shorter
tarsus.

_Measurements._--Measurements are shown in table 17.

TABLE 17. MEASUREMENTS OF THREE SUBSPECIES OF _Poliolimnas cinereus_

========================+=====+========+=======+===========+===========
LOCALITY | No. | Wing | Tail | Culmen | Tarsus
------------------------+-----+--------+-------+-----------+-----------
_Poliolimnas cinereus | | | | |
collingwoodi_ | | | | |
Philippines, | 13 | 98 | | 22.5 | 38.0
Talaut. Celebes | | 92-108 | | 21.0-24.0 | 35.0-41.0
| | | | |
_Poliolimnas cinereus | | | | |
micronesiae_ | | | | |
Guam | 10 | 95 | 51 | 21.0 | 37.0
| | 91-102 | 50-53 | 20.0-22.5 | 34.5-39.0
| | | | |
Palau | 10 | 93 | 51 | 21.0 | 37.0
| | 89-95 | 51-53 | 20.0-23.0 | 34.0-38.0
| | | | |
Truk | 5 | 95 | 51 | 21.0 | 36.0
| | 94-97 | 51-53 | 20.5-22.5 | 35.0-37.0
| | | | |
_Poliolimnas cinereus | | | | |
brevipes_ | | | | |
S. Dionisio Island | 8 | 96 | | 19.0 | 30.0
| | 94-97 | | 17.0-20.0 | 29.0-32.0
------------------------+-----+--------+-------+-----------+-----------

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 25 (11 males, 13 females, 1
unsexed), as follows: Mariana Islands, AMNH--Guam, 10 (July 13,
Aug. 1, 5, 7, 13, 19, 23, 31); Palau Islands, AMNH--exact locality
not given, 10 (Nov. 11, 13, 15, 23, 25); Caroline Islands,
AMNH--Truk, 5 (June 3, 8, 16, 17, 18).

_Nesting._--Hartert (1900:9) describes two nests found on swampy
ground. One contained three eggs, the other four eggs. He writes,
"The eggs are pale buff, or cream-colour, speckled all over with
brownish rufous, more frequently near the broad end. In some eggs,
these spots are larger, in others minute, and there are often some,
underlying pale purplish gray spots."

_Remarks._--Superficially, the White-browned Rail of Micronesia is distinct from its near relative, _P. c. collingwoodi_, but the differences are not so well marked as they are between insular populations of other species of rails. It is probably a comparatively recent addition to the Micronesian avifauna, and its pattern of distribution may represent an early stage in the development of endemism in contrast to the pattern of later stages in the development of insular forms shown by the isolated rails, _Rallus owstoni_ and _Aphanolimnas monasa_. The fact that _Poliolimnas cinereus_ is found only on widely separated islands in Micronesia does not necessarily mean that it has become "extinct" on the intervening islands, but that it may be partial to the larger, "high" islands, or that it is actually present but remains to be discovered on these intervening islands when more intensive field investigations are made. Hachisuka (1939a:151), in naming the Micronesian form, comments that it has a shorter bill than _P. c. collingwoodi_ of the Philippines and Celebes, and that it is intermediate between this subspecies and _P. c. brevipes_ of the Volcano Island to the north. Within these three subspecies there are trends toward a shorter culmen and shorter tarsus and, less markedly, toward a shorter wing. From the evidence at hand, it can be concluded that _Poliolimnas_ first colonized Micronesia probably from the Philippine area (or Papuan area) through the Palaus and Carolines, to the Marianas and north to the Volcano Islands. Further, this has probably been a relatively recent invasion, although the subspecies in the Volcano Islands shows marked change in length of tarsus and culmen. This extension of range to the islands north of the Marianas is unusual and resembles somewhat the distribution of _Nycticorax caledonicus_ in the same general area.

The Micronesian White-browed Rail is a shy bird with the typical skulking habits of most rails. The NAMRU2 party did not find the bird at Guam, although reports were obtained that it was present in the marsh and swamp areas. Coultas (field notes) tells of observing the rail at Palau at a fresh water lake on Babelthuap, where it was difficult to obtain and apparently rare. Seale (1901:30) obtained a female specimen at Guam from native boys who snared it in a sweet potato patch near the Agaña River. This bird, taken in June or July, had eggs ready for laying. McElroy of the NAMRU2 party observed rails at Truk in brackish swamps, where he found them to be fairly common. A male which was taken in December had enlarged gonads. At Asor in the Ulithi Atoll, the NAMRU2 party learned that a small rail (possibly of this species) was found at taro patches in the early days of occupation, but that it was apparently eliminated by clearing operations. The taking of a bird at Bikini, as reported by Yamashina (1940:679), is further evidence that these birds may subsist on coral atolls as well as on the high volcanic islands; possibly the bird of the Marshalls may have been derived from the south rather than from the west. Unlike _Rallus owstoni_, this bird is apparently restricted to swampy areas, and may be eliminated from its habitat by drainage or clearing by man. It may always persist, however, in the taro patches maintained by the natives.

=Gallinula chloropus= subsp. near =orientalis= Horsfield

Gallinule

_Gallinula orientalis_ Horsfield, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 13,
1821, p. 195. (Type locality, Java.)

_Gallinula chloropus indicus_ Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev.,
1932, p. 197 (Babelthuap); Takatsukasa and Yamashina, Dobutsu.
Zasshi, 44, 1932, p. 266 (Pelew, Coror).

_Gallinula chloropus indica_ Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed.,
1942, p. 221 (Babelthuap).

_Gallinula chloropus_ subsp. Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol.
107, no. 15, 1948, p. 49 (Peleliu, Angaur).

_Geographic range._--Malaysia from southern Malay Peninsula to
Celebes. In Micronesia: Palau Islands--Babelthuap, Koror, Peleliu,
Angaur.

_Characters._--Adult: Resembles _G. c. indica_ Blyth, _G. c.
lozanoi_ Lletget and _G. c. guami_ Hartert, but smaller and paler;
upper wing-coverts less olivaceous-brown and more slate-colored;
back, rump, and scapulars less richly washed with
olivaceous-brown. Resembles _G. c. orientalis_ from Java in size,
but much paler.

_Measurements._--An unsexed adult bird from Angaur measures: wing,
150; bill from rictes, 27.1; bill from nostril, 13.4; tarsus, 46.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 3 (2 males, 1 unsexed) from
Palau Islands, USNM--Angaur (Sept. 21).

_Remarks._--Owing to the lack of sufficient material, I am unable to determine the exact status of the resident gallinule in the Palau Islands. On the basis of a single, unsexed adult and two immatures there is not very much that can be said. The adult is smaller and paler than _G. c. indica_, _G. c. lozonoi_, and _G. c. guami_. It resembles specimens of the subspecies _G. c. orientalis_ in size but is also paler than the skins of this race which I have examined. It seems closest to this latter subspecies to which I tentatively refer it. If it is closest to this subspecies, it probably reached Palau from the Celebean region, rather than from the Philippines or some other route. Whether specimens taken by the Japanese at Babelthuap and Koror are _G. c. indica_ is questionable, unless the skins were from migrants which may visit Palau from the west or northwest. The Hand-list of Japanese Birds (Hachisuka _et al._, 1942:177) records _G. c. indica_ from the Bonin Islands.

The three Gallinules were taken by the NAMRU2 party at fresh and brackish water swamps at Angaur on September 21, 1945. Several Gallinules were seen in the area and several were observed also at Peleliu Island. One of the immatures was just growing its wing feathers, indicating that the birds must breed in the Palau Islands.

=Gallinula chloropus guami= Hartert

Gallinule

_Gallinula chloropus guami_ Hartert, Novit. Zool., 24, 1917, p.
268. Type locality, Guam).

_Fulica chloropus_ Quoy and Gaimard, Voy. "Uranie," Zool., 1824,
p. 703 (Guam); Kittlitz, Obser. Zool., in Lutké, Voy. "Le
Séniavine," 3, 1836, p. 305 (Guahan).

_Gallinula galeata_ var. _sandwichensis_ Oustalet, Nouv. Arch.
Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 8, 1896, p. 34 (Saypan, Tinian, Guam).

_Gallinula chloropus_ Hartert, Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 62
(Guam); Seale, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p. 31
(Guam); Safford, Osprey, 1902, p. 67 (Marianas); _idem_, Amer.
Anthro., 4, 1902, p. 711 (Guam); _idem_, The Plant World, 7, 1904,
p. 265 (Guam); _idem_, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb., 9, 1905, p. 79
(Guam); Prowazek, Die deutschen Marianen, 1913, p. 101 (Marianen);
Cox, Island of Guam, 1917, p. 21 (Guam); Wetmore, in Townsend and
Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 177 (Guam);
Strophlet, Auk, 63, 1946, p. 536 (Guam).

_Gallinula chloropus guami_ Hartert, Vögel pal. Fauna, 15, 1921,
p. 1843 (Guam); Kuroda, Avifauna Riu Kiu, 1925, p. 199 (Guam);
Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 43 (Guam, Tinian,
Saipan); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 1, 1927, p. 99
(Mariana Islands); Takatsukasa and Yamashina, Dobutsu. Zasshi, 44,
1932, p. 226 (Pagan); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 197
(Guam, Tinian, Saipan, Pagan); Hachisuka, Birds Philippine
Islands, 1, 1932, p. 241 (Guam); Peters, Checklist Birds World, 2,
1934, p. 204 (Marianne Islands); Bryan, Guam. Rec., vol. 13, no.
2, 1936, p. 15 (Guam); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p.
222 (Guam, Tinian, Saipan, Pagan); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific,
1945, p. 288 (Marianas); Downs, Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci., 49,
1946, p. 92 (Tinian); Stott, Auk, 1947, p. 525 (Saipan); Baker,
Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 49 (Guam,
Tinian, Saipan).

_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Mariana Islands--Pagan, Saipan,
Tinian, Guam.

_Characters._--Adult: Head and neck sooty black; upper back dark,
bluish slate-gray; lower back and wing-coverts brownish; tail
blackish-brown; wings dark brown, outer edge of first primary
white; breast and upper abdomen dark slate-gray, feathers on sides
of breast with longitudinal white streak; under wing dark with
white edges; lower abdomen grayish with white-tipped feathers;
vent black; under tail-coverts white; bill and frontal shield red,
tip of bill yellowish; legs and feet olive-green.

Adult female: Resembles adult male but usually with smaller
frontal shield.

Immature: Resembles adult, but forehead mottled white and brown,
with sides of head less distinctly speckled with brown; crown,
neck and upper back dusky brown; back, scapulars and upper
tail-coverts olivaceous-brown; chin and throat whitish; breast
feathers pearly-gray tipped with white; abdomen white; sides gray,
washed with buff. Older birds are darker above and more
brownish-gray below; frontal shield small.

_G. c. guami_ resembles _G. c. indica_, but upper wing-coverts
darker and near "olivaceous black"; back, rump and scapulars
darker and less olivaceous brown, although not so dark as in _G.
c. orientalis_. From _G. c. lozanoi_, _G. c. guami_ differs in:
slightly darker upper wing-coverts; richer olivaceous-brown on
back, scapulars and rump; thinner culmen with possibly less yellow
coloring on tip. _G. c. guami_ resembles _G. c. sandvicensis_
Streets of the Hawaiian Islands, but has less olive wash on the
feathers and a smaller frontal shield.

_Measurements._--Measurements of _Gallinula chloropus_ are
presented in table 18. In general, females are smaller than males.

TABLE 18. MEASUREMENTS OF _Gallinula chloropus_

=====================+=====+=========+========+===========+========
| | | Bill | Bill |
SUBSPECIES | No. | Wing | from | from | Tarsus
| | | rictus | nostril |
---------------------+-----+---------+--------+-----------+--------
_G. c. indica_ | 15 | 164 | 27 | 14.4 | 48
| | 158-173 | 24-29 | 13.1-18.1 | 44-50
| | | | |
_G. c. orientalis_ | 3 | 152 | 27 | 13.8 | 45
| | 146-152 | 26-29 | 13.1-14.4 | 44-46
| | | | |
_G. c. lozanoi_ | 11 | 164 | 27 | 14.5 | 50
| | 153-170 | 24-29 | 13.1-15.2 | 45-57
| | | | |
_G. c. guami_ | 11 | 164 | 27 | 14.7 | 49
| | 156-171 | 24-28 | 13.1-16.2 | 47-56
| | | | |
_G. c. sandvicensis_ | 2 | 150-158 | 27 | 13.4 | 52-56
---------------------+-----+---------+--------+-----------+--------

_Weights._--From Guam an adult male weighed 291 grams and an adult
female 256 (Baker, 1948:49).

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 42 (16 males, 22 females, 4
unsexed), as follows: Mariana Islands, USNM--Guam, 5 (Feb. 24, May,
June 5, 7, 18--Tinian, 3 (Oct. 12, 18)--Saipan, 3 (Sept. 28, 30);
AMNH--Guam, 25 (Feb. 21, April 6, July 13, 28, 30, Aug. 1, 3, 6, 7,
13, 19, 23, 30, 31, Sept. 3, 17, Dec. 11--Tinian, 5 (June 11, Sept.
12, 13, 14).

_Nesting._--Hartert (1898:63) reports nests of the Gallinule at
Guam in grass and on swampy ground in December and March. A male
with enlarged gonads was taken by the NAMRU2 party at Guam on June
7. Marshall (1949:219) is of the opinion that this bird breeds all
year.

_Food habits._--Seale (1901:31) found grass, insects, and larvae
in stomachs obtained at Guam.

_Remarks._--The subspecies _G. c. indica_, _G. c. lozanoi_, _G. c. guami_, and _G. c. sandvicensis_ bear a close resemblance to one another in size and color. _G. c. guami_ and _G. c. lozanoi_ resemble each other so closely that it would be difficult to separate unlabeled specimens of the two subspecies. _G. c. orientalis_ differs from all of the gallinules in smaller size and darker color. Study of these forms indicates that the Gallinule has colonized the Marianas from Asia probably by way of Japan and the Bonin and Volcano islands. The Hawaiian subspecies is probably of American origin, as pointed out by Mayr (1943:46), and is not a close relative of the Mariana subspecies. The fact that these insular subspecies have not undergone much differentiation does not necessarily mean that they are recent arrivals, but probably is a reflection of the lack of plasticity of the species; as a whole the species does not exhibit anywhere a great amount of geographic variation. A thorough study of all insular populations of this species (including specimens from the Azores, Seychelles, Réunion, Mauritus, and the Greater and Lesser Antilles) might reveal the effect of isolation on the species in general. Its ability to become established on isolated islands is apparent, although it is indeed peculiar that the species has not reached the Caroline Islands.

The Gallinule in the Marianas is restricted to fresh water lakes, marshes and swamps on the islands of Guam, Tinian, Saipan and Pagan. Coultas (field notes), on visiting the island of Tinian in 1931, comments that the bird is rare and found at only one lake on the island. Downs (1946:92) noted the species in 1945, and Joe T. Marshall Jr. obtained three specimens at Lake Hagoya in October of the same year. Gleise (1945:220) estimated the population of Gallinules on Tinian in 1945 at 70 individuals. Stott (1947:525) reports that the birds were abundant at Lake Susupe, Saipan, in 1945. Seale (1901:31) found the Gallinule to be abundant at Guam in marshes and taro patches. In 1945, the NAMRU2 party found fairly large populations of the Gallinule in fresh water marshes and fallow rice paddies at Guam. The greatest concentration of birds appeared to be in the Agaña Swamp and along the Ylig River. They seldom ventured out into open water but preferred weedy edges into which they could suddenly dart when disturbed. It was interesting to note such wary behavior, for an observer would think that after the bird had been in an environment virtually devoid of birds of prey (except for an occasional migrant) for a number of generations, it would have lost such behaviorisms as a result of the absence of the selective processes involved in predation.

=Porphyrio porphyrio pelewensis= Hartlaub and Finsch

Purple Swamphen

_Porphyrio melanotus_ Temm. var. _pelewensis_ Hartlaub and Finsch,
Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, p. 107. (Type locality, Pelew
Islands.)

_Porphyrio melanotus_ Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc.
London, 1868, pp. 8, 117, 118 (Pelew); Gray, Hand-list Birds, 3,
1871, p. 64 (Pelew).

_Porphyrio melanotus pelewensis_ Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber.
Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 61 (Pelew); Bolau,
Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 70 (Palau); Dubois,
Syn. Avium, 2, 1904, p. 976 (Pelew); Mathews, Birds Australia, 1,
1911, p. 241 (Pelew); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922,
p. 43 (Pelew); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 1, 1927, p.
100 (Pelew); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 197 (Palau);
Hachisuka, Birds Philippines, 1, 1932, p. 245 (Pelew).

_Porphyrio pelewensis_ Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp.
5, 39 (Palau); Salvadori, Atti Accad. Sci. Torino, 14, 1879, p.
1169 (Pelew); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy,
1881, p. 407 (Palau); Finsch, Deut. Ver. zum Schutze der
Vogelwelt, 18, 1893, p. 459 (Palau); Sharpe, Cat. Birds British
Mus., 23, 1894, p. 206 (Pelew); Nehrkorn, Nat. Eiers., 1899, p.
205 (Palau-Inseln); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 113
(Palau); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 1, 1913, p. 216 (Palauinseln);
Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 51 (Pelew).

_Porphyrio cyanocephalus_ Elliot, Stray Feathers, 7, 1878, pp. 10,
13 (Palau).

_Porphyrio poliocephalus pelewensis_ Peters, Check-list Birds
World, 2, 1934, p. 208 (Pelew); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed.,
1942, p. 222 (Koror).

_Porphyrio porphyrio pelewensis_ Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific,
1945, p. 288 (Palau); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no.
15, 1948, p. 49 (Angaur).

_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Palau Islands--Koror, Angaur.

_Characters._--Adult: A large, purplish-blue, marsh bird with
crown and sides of head dusky-black; wing-coverts purplish-blue;
rest of upper parts dark, washed with olivaceous-brown; outer webs
of primaries and secondaries tinged with purplish-blue; chin,
axillaries and under wing-coverts dusky; under tail-coverts
whitish; rest of underparts purplish-blue, blacker on abdomen.

_Porphyrio p. pelewensis_ resembles _P. p. palliatus_ Bruggemann
of Celebes and _P. p. melanopterus_ Bonaparte of the Moluccas and
New Guinea but upper parts paler and slightly less glossy; lesser
and primary wing-coverts more purplish-blue and less
greenish-blue; outer webs of primaries and secondaries lighter
purplish-blue; underparts less blue with patch on throat and
breast paler blue with less green (patch present on only one
specimen from the Palaus).

_Measurements._--Measurements of one male: wing, 227; tail, 81;
culmen and shield, 62.5; tarsus, 77; of three females: wing, 212,
218, 227; tail, 77, 81, 86; culmen and shield, 57, 61, 64; tarsus,
75, 75, 77.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 6 (1 male, 3 females, 2
unsexed), as follows: Palau Islands, USNM--Angaur, 1 chick (Sept.
21) AMNH--exact locality not given, 5 (Nov. 13, 19, Dec. 17-19,
undated).

_Nesting._--A black, downy chick was captured on September 21,
1945, at the edge of a fresh-water lake on Angaur by Davidson of
the NAMRU2 party (Baker, 1948:49). Two females taken by Coultas in
December had enlarged gonads.

_Remarks._--The Purple Swamphen in the Palaus stands out as one of the more distinctive subspecies of _P. porphyrio_. It also marks the most northeastern extension of the range of this species. The subspecies in the Palaus shows affinities to that found to the south and southwest and probably reached Micronesia via the Papuan area, Celebes or the Moluccas rather than from the Philippines. It is interesting that this bird, as well as several other species, has been able to establish itself at the Palau Islands, but has not extended its range farther into other islands of Micronesia. Perhaps, the bird is now in an early stage in its island occupation.

The Purple Swamphen is probably not abundant in the Palaus. It is a large and conspicuous bird, and its restriction to swamps and areas around lakes may allow native hunters to obtain it rather easily, particularly by snares or by organized drives. Coultas (field notes) obtained specimens in taro swamps; he saw only 4 individuals and remarks that the birds utter harsh cries at night. The NAMRU2 party flushed an adult from lake side vegetation at Angaur on September 21, 1945. This bird was not taken, but a downy young was obtained in the area the same day.

=Fulica atra atra= Linnaeus

Common Coot

_Fulica atra_ Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 152. (Type
locality, Europe, restricted to Sweden.)

_Fulica atra_ Hartert, Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, pp. 64, 69 (Guam);
Seale, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p. 32 (Guam);
Safford, Osprey, 1902, p. 70 (Marianas); _idem_, The Plant World,
7, 1904, p. 268 (Guam); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia,
1922, p. 43 (Guam); Bryan, Guam Rec., vol. 13, no. 2, 1936, p. 15
(Guam).

_Fulica atra atra_ Hartert, Vögel pal. Fauna, 15, 1921, p. 1852
(Guam); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 197 (Tinian,
Guam); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 222, (Tinian,
Guam); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 302 (Micronesia).

_Geographic range._--Breeds in Europe, northern Africa, and Asia.
Winters south to Africa, Malaysia, southern Asia. In Micronesia:
Mariana Islands--Tinian, Guam.

_Remarks._--The Common Coot is a straggler to Micronesia in winter. It has been recorded from Guam and Tinian. An unsexed specimen in the collections of the American Museum of Natural History was taken at Guam in the fall of 1896 by one of Owston's collectors.

=Squatarola squatarola= (Linnaeus)

Black-bellied Plover

_Tringa Squatarola_ Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1, 1758, p. 149.
(Type locality, Europe, restricted to Sweden.)

_Charadrius squatarola_ Hartert, Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 66
(Saipan); Seale, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p.
35 (Micronesia); Safford, Osprey, 1902, p. 67 (Marianas).

_Squatarola squatarola_ Hartert, Novit. Zool., 7, 1900, p. 9
(Ruk); Safford, The Plant World, 7, 1904, p. 266 (Guam); _idem_,
Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb., 9, 1905, p. 80 (Guam); Cox, Island of
Guam, 1917, p. 22 (Guam); Ridgway, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, pt.
8, 1919, p. 72 (Ruk); Bryan, Guam Rec., vol. 13, no. 2, 1936, p.
15 (Guam); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 216 (Saipan,
Truk); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 36 (Truk); Baker,
Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 50 (Guam).

_Squatarola helvetica_ Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p.
61 (Marianas, Ruk).

_Squatarola squatarola hypomelaena_ Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds
Micronesia, 1922, p. 43 (Ruk, Saipan); Hand-list Japanese Birds,
rev., 1932, p. 193 (Saipan, Truk).

_Geographic range._--Breeds in arctic regions of Holarctica.
Winters in Southern Hemisphere. In Micronesia: Mariana
Islands--Guam, Saipan; Caroline Islands--Truk; Marshall
Islands--Eniwetok.

_Specimens examined._--One female from Mariana Islands. USNM--Guam
(Aug. 27).

_Remarks._--The Black-bellied Plover is an uncommon visitor to Micronesia. One bird was obtained by Markley of the NAMRU2 party at Guam on August 27, 1945; Flavin recorded five of these birds from November, 1944, to January, 1946. Bryan and Greenway (1944:109) record this species as an occasional visitor to the Hawaiian Islands. Gleise and Genelly (1945:221) observed the Black-bellied Plover at Eniwetok in 1945.

=Pluvialis dominica fulva= (Gmelin)

Pacific Golden Plover

_Charadrius fulvus_ Gmelin, Syst. Nat., 1, pt. 2, 1789, p. 687.
(Type locality, Tahiti.)

_Charadrius pluvialis_ Kittlitz, Obser. Zool., in Lutké., Voy. "Le
Séniavine," 3, 1836, pp. 287, 299, 304 (Ualan, Longounor, Guahan);
_idem_, Denkw. Reise russ. Amer. Micron. und Kamchat., 2, 1858,
pp. 32, 55 (Ualan).

_Charadrius virginianus_ Hartlaub, Journ. f. Ornith., 1854, p. 167
(Mariannen, Carolinen).

_Charadrius longipes?_ Gray, Cat. Birds Trop. Is. Pacific Ocean,
1859, p. 47 (Ladrone or Marian Islands, Oualan).

_Pluvialis fulvus_ Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, 6, no. 29, 1865, p. 52
(Micronesie).

_Charadrius fulvus_ Finsch and Hartlaub, Fauna
Central-polynesiens, 1867, p. 196 (Marianen, Ualan); Hartlaub and
Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1868, pp. 8, 117, 118 (Pelews);
Finsch and Hartlaub, Journ. f. Ornith., 1870, p. 139 (Pelew);
Finsch, Journ. f. Ornith., 1872, p. 52 (Pelew, Carolinen);
Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, pp. 89, 104
(Pelew, Mackenzie, Uap); Gräffe, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 2, 1873,
p. 123 (Yap); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp. 5, 31
(Palau); _idem_, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, pp. 18, 38
(Ponapé); _idem_., Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1877 (1878), p. 781
(Ponapé); _idem_, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 576 (Ruk);
_idem_, Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, pp. 293, 305 (Ponapé, Kuschai);
_idem_, Ibis, 1880, pp. 220, 331, 332 (Taluit); Schmeltz and
Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, pp. 281, 353 (Ponapé,
Ruk); Finsch, Ibis, 1881, pp. 105, 106, 109, 113, 115 (Kushai,
Ponapé); Salvadori, Ornith. Papuasia, 3, 1882, p. 395 (Carolines,
Pelews, Marianas); Finsch, Mitth. Ornith. Ver. Wien, 1884, p. 55
(Jaluit, Milli, Kuschai); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool.
Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 63 (Marshall Islands,
Ualan, Luganor, Ponapé, Ruk, Uap, Pelew, Marianne); Oustalet,
Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 8, 1896, p. 46 (Guam,
Hogoleu, Marshalls, Palaos); Hartert, Novit. Zool. 5, 1898, p. 66
(Guam); _idem_, Novit. Zool., 7, 1900, p. 9 (Ruk); Seale, Occ.
Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p. 36 (Micronesia);
Schnee, Ornith. Monatsber., 1901, p. 132 (Marshalls); Safford,
Osprey, 1902, p. 68 (Marianas); _idem_, The Plant World, 7, 1904,
p. 266 (Guam); Schnee, Zool. Jahrbücher, 20, 1904, p. 389
(Marschall-Inseln); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 51
(Ponapé).

_Charadrius dominicus fulvus_ Safford, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb., 9,
1905, p. 80 (Guam); Cox, Island of Guam, 1917, p. 22 (Guam).

_Charadrius dominicus_ Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 24, 1896,
p. 195 (Micronesia).

_Pluvialis dominicus fulvus_ Ridgway, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50,
pt. 8, 1919, p. 89 (Kuschai, Pelew, Ruk, Marianas, Mackenzie,
Ponapé); Wetmore, in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl.,
63, 1919, p. 177 (Uala, Arhno, Rongelab); Kuroda, in Momiyama,
Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 44 (Guam, Angaur, Ualan, Luganor,
Ponapé, Ruk, Yap, Arhno); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942,
p. 216 (Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Babelthuap, Koror, Peliliu, Angaur,
Yap, Ulithi, Truk, Lukunor, Ponapé, Kusaie, Mille, Arhno, Majuro,
Likieb).