110 BULLETIN 186, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



One who ventures into the flooded marshes of summer will find the 

 nok khieo not at all shy — feeding in quite open places, fluttering above 

 the vegetation with dangling feet, climbing the reeds for a better 

 view of the intruder, and uttering their loud, hoarse notes on every 

 side. 



Specimens taken on August 3 and 14 had the gonads greatly en- 

 larged. On August 28, 1929, I watched one bird of a pair brooding 

 on a nest, while its mate walked in a circle about it, with wings held 

 stiffly vertically and tail upraised to expose the white area beneath. 



An August male had the irides deep red ; the bill brownish red, much 

 darker at the base, whitish about the nares ; the casque dark brownish 

 red, darker at the center, more vermilion at the sides; the feet and 

 toes light red, gray at the joints; the claws horny brown. Another 

 August male differed chiefly in having the irides brown. 



The adult has the head gray, more or less washed with blue, chang- 

 ing to purple-blue on the back and light greenish blue on the lower 

 neck and breast; the flanks and belly purple-blue; the thighs light 

 greenish blue; the under tail coverts pure white; the scapulars and 

 exposed portions of the wings greenish blue. 



At certain localities in Central Thailand, at the peripheries of their 

 respective ranges, we find poliocephalus and viridis together in the 

 breeding season. I do not for this reason believe that we are dealing 

 with distinct species but think rather that we have here a case in which 

 inosculation is absent, each individual appearing externally to be 

 definitely of one or the other race. 



FULICA ATRA ATRA Linnaeus 



Eurasian Coot 



[Fulica] atra Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 152 (Europe; 

 type locality restricted to Sweden, apud Hartert). 



Fulica atra atra, Rogers and Deignan, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 1934, p. 91 

 (Chiang Mai).— Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1936, p. 81 

 (Chiang Mai, "some fifty miles south of Chiengmai"=Nong Khiat). 



A female in the collection of Cornell University, taken by Vijjakich 

 at Lampang, August 13, 1930, seems to be the earliest example known 

 from Thailand. In 1931 I acquired a specimen captured alive near 

 Chiang Mai on November IT, collected another November 28 near Ban 

 Nong Khiat, where it was very common, and a third at Chiang Mai 

 on December 17. At Ban Pa Muat, north of San Sai Luang, a soli- 

 tary bird was seen on October 23, 1936, and later dozens of individuals 

 were noted on the same pond, at least until January 16, 1937. 



The specimen taken at Lampang in August may indicate that some 

 birds stay to breed in Thailand, at least occasionally. 



