_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. [Illustration: FIG. 9. Routes of dispersal of rails in the Pacific area.] =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