Calcutta, with Notes by H. E. Strickland. 121 



and squared posteriorly. General colour purple, the fore-neck and 

 breast verditer, and wings the same inclining to greenish ; crown 

 somewhat dusky, the sides of the face and immediately around the 

 frontal shield dull white ; lower tail- coverts pure white ; the medial 

 portion of the belly dusky-slate ; irides bright red-brown ; bill and 

 frontal disc dark coral-red ; and legs and toes reddish carneous, with 

 dusky lead- coloured joints *. 



The other species is probably either from the Moluccas or from 

 China. Its size is rather superior to that of the Indian one, the bill 

 larger and more robust, but the frontal shield smaller, rounded pos- 

 teriorly, and not reaching beyond the eyes. In colour it is distin- 

 guished by having the back and scapularies green, the wings purple, 

 the sides of the face dark, passing into verditer, and the crown, occi- 

 put and hind-neck dusky-purplish ; all the purple of this species being 

 darker and less vivid than that of the other. If undescribed, I pro- 

 pose to term it P. dorsalis f. 



No. 232. Gallinula parvifrons, nobis. Distinguished from the Eu- 

 ropean species by its inferior size and much less developed frontal 

 shield ; in other respects quite similar, as are also its habits and note. 

 This bird is the G. akool of Mr. Jerdon's list ; but I have also ob- 

 tained the true Porzana akool {Rallus akool of Sykes) in this neigh- 

 bourhood, a species having dark under tail-coverts, and the legs dark 

 reddish-brown. 



Nos. 234 and 235. These are identical ; the Rallus rufescens, Jer- 

 don, referring to the young female Gal. lugubris, Horsfield, vel G. 

 plumbea, Vieillot, of which I have obtained several examples J. 



Nos. 239 and 240. Both of these are common. 



No. 241. The only flamingo which I have myself obtained here 

 is Phoenicopterus minor, but there is a Calcutta specimen of Ph. anti- 

 quorum, Tern., in the museum, and I have received others from the 

 upper provinces, &c. 



Of Ducks, the only additional species to be mentioned is the Anas 

 formosa, Gmelin, of which I procured a splendid male, shot on the 

 salt-water lake §. Length 16^ by 27 inches. Bill black ; feet dingy 

 yellowish-olive, darker on the webs ; irides dark ; the tracheal os- 

 seous vesicle small. Anas boschas has not yet occurred, though Mr. 



* It is evident from the above description that the Indian Porphyrio is 

 not the smaragnotus, in which the back is of a pure olive-green. Neither 

 can it, I think, be the indicus of Dr. Horsfield (smaragdinus, Temm.), which 

 is only 15 (not 19) inches long, and in which Jthe back is described as nearly 

 black with a greenish tinge. The Indian bird appears from the description 

 to approach most nearly to the European P. antiquorum, Edwards, pi. 87, 

 in which however the frontal shield is said to be rounded. Mr. Blyth's 

 second species seems to be the smaragnotus of Temminck, in which case the 

 specimen was probably brought from S. Africa. — H. E. S. 



f This approaches the P. erythropus of Stephens, which that author iden- 

 tifies with P. smaragnotus, Tern. 



% Dr. Horsfield's Gallinula gularis is also the young of his lugubris. — 

 H. E. S. 



§ This is a widely different species from the ' bimaculated duck' of English 

 authors. 



