(JALLINULA. 



225 



September, 1891, near Boolij,'al, on the Lachlan Kiver, New South Wales, measures :— Length 



(A) I-S2 X 1-27 inches; (B) 1-87 x 1-27 inches; (C) rS x 1-27 inches; (D) 1-82 x 1-28 

 inches; (E) 177 x 1-27 inches; (F) 1-77 x 1-25 inches; (G) 1-84 x r3i inches. A set of 

 five, taken by Mr. Thos. P. Austin on the homestead dam on Cobborah Station, Cobbora, on 

 the 27th Auf,'ust, iQOi), measures; -Lenfjth (A) 1-75 x 1-22 inclies ; (B) 172 x 1-17 inches; 

 (C) 177 X 1-23 inches; (D) 177 x 1-22 inches; (E) 176 x 1-22 inches. A set of eight 

 taken by Mr. Austin on the 17th October, 1909, measures: — Length (A) 173 x 1-27 inches; 



(B) 173 x 1-25 inches; (C) 179 x 1-23 inches; (D) 174 x 1-27 inches; (L) 173 x 1-27 

 inches; (F) 176 x 1-27 inches; (G) 175 x i-2i inches; (H) 176 x 1-27 inches. 



In I'^astern Australia the breeding season usually commences in August and continues until 

 the end of December, but is greatly influenced by a wet season, especially after a drought, these 

 birds may then be found breeding from January to July. In New South Wales in i88g, after 

 an extremely wet season, they bred during the autumn and early winter months in nearly every 

 part of the State in which it is found. In North-western .'\ustralia Mr. Carter noted nests 

 containing eggs at Point Cloates from the 13th July to the 3rd August. 



Gallinula tenebrosa. 



DUSKY JIOUR-HEN. 



(iidliwili, tenebrosa, Gould, Proe. /ool. Soc, 184G, p. 20 ; iiL, Bds. Au.str., fol. Vol. VI., pi. 73 

 (1848); id., Handbk. Bda. Austr., Vol. II., p. :528 (1865); Sliarpe, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., 

 Vol. XXITL, p. 168(IS94;; vL, Handl, Bds., Vol. I., p. 107 (1809). 



Adui.t MALK. — General colour a/tore tluski/ (illre-brown : u/t/ier unng-con'rlx and lunertnost 

 secondaries like the back ; remainder of quills blackish-brown .■ tail-feathers black: entire head, neck, 

 mantle and all the under surface dark slatij-<jrei/, with a dusky wash <in the fore part if the head ; 

 central nnder tail-coverts black, the lateral ones u:hite ; bill and frontal plate red, the tip of the 

 former pale yellow ; legs and feet dxdl red, blackisli, on the tarsal joints and toes ; iris, pale brown. 

 Total length in the jlesh l.ro inches, wing S'l, tail -J-f bill, u^ith frontal plate, IS, tarsus J-Jf 



Adult fkmai.K. — Similur in pinniuye to tin male. 



Distribution. — Queensland, New South Wales, \'ictoria, South Australia. 



/-I^IIl': Dusky Moor-Hen freiiuents the dense growth of reeds, flags and other aquatic 

 -L vegetation growing on the margins of rivers, backwaters, swamps and lagoons, dodging 

 in and out and occasionally flying with laboured flight, when pursued, from one side of a stream 

 to another. These birds were fairly numerous during my visits to the Upper Clarence River 

 District, in 1898 and 1907, running among the reeds as we approached too near or disturbed 

 them when they were resting, often on one leg, on some fallen log or stump projecting out of the 

 rank vegetation growing on the river banks. They dive, swim and run well, and when on land 

 have that peculiar flicking motion of the tail when walking. They are generally distributed 

 throughout the northern coastal districts, from the Hunter River to the Tweed River, and are 

 also very common on the highlands of the Blue Mountains, Mr. R. Grant procuring specimens 

 on the Lett and Co.\ Rivers, near Hartley and Lithgow, and, further west, the late Mr. J. A. 

 Thorpe obtained them on the P'ish River, near Tarana. They occur also, in more or less 

 limited numbers, throughout the coastal parts of the Illawarra District into N'ictoria and South 

 -Australia. 



