THE OSTEOLOGY OF THE GIANT GALLINULE OF THE 
PHILIPPINES, PORPHYRIO PULVERULENTUS 
TEMMINCK 
WITH NOTES ON THE OSTEOLOGY OF TACHYBAPTUS PHILIPPENSIS 
(BONNATERRE) AND HYDROPHASIANUS CHIRURGUS (SCOPOLI) 
By R. W. SHUFELDT 
(Major, Medical Corps, U. S. Army, Washington, D. C.) 
FIVE PLATES 
Before describing the skeleton of this big paludicoline bird, 
it will be as well to present a brief history of what we know of 
its habits, distribution, taxonomy, and other matters of interest. 
For this history I am indebted to Mr. Richard C. McGregor, 
ornithologist of the Bureau of Science at Manila, who has kindly 
furnished me with the following notes: 
Porphyrio pulverulentus Temminck. 
Porphyrio pulverulentus TEMMINCK, Pl. Col. (1826), 5, Pl. 405; 
SHARPE, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus. (1894), 23, 207; Hand-list (1899), 
1, 109; McGrecor, Man. Phil. Bds. (1909), 81. 
Distribution.—Philippine Islands. ® 
At the time that Sharpe wrote volume 23 of the Catalogue of Birds, 
the British Museum possessed only two specimens of the Philippine blue 
gallinule; these are listed as follows: 
a. Ad. sk, Manila, Luzon. Hugh Cuming, Esq. [C.]. 
b. Juv. sk. Manila. Gould Coll. 
It is very unlikely that either of these was collected in the vicinity 
of Manila. That they came from Laguna de Bay is probable, for the 
species can be found at many points along the shores of that lake, but it 
is nowhere as abundant as the moorhen (Gallinula chloropus). 
Since the Catalogue of Birds was written, this gallinule has been 
collected in Bohol, Mindanao, and Mindoro, as well as in Luzon. It is 
probable that it occurs on all of the larger islands where there are suit- 
able lakes with shallow reed-filled water near the shores. 
The food of Porphyrio, as indicated by the stomach contents of speci- 
mens collected at Paete, Laguna, Luzon, consists of fresh-water snails, 
small insects, seeds, and vegetable matter that could not be determined. 
When startled or surprised this gallinule stands erect, as if at attention. 
From this and its conspicuous red bill the Spaniards called it “artillero.” 
The most conspicuous external features of this bird are the heavy 
bill and long, heavy feet. It has a striking resemblance to the pictures 
of Notornis, next to which the genus is placed in Sharpe’s Hand-list. 
See the text figure of Notornis in Knowlton, Birds of the World, page 325, 
and in Newton, Dictionary of Birds, page 592. You will notice that the 
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