GREEN-BACKED GALLINULE 



Porphyrio Madagascariensis 



Arabic, Digmeh 



Whole plumage ultramarine blue shading into black, and 

 on the back shading into bluish-green ; white under-tail ; 

 frontal and bill blood-red, as are legs and feet ; claws black ; 

 eye, deep crimson-brown. Total length, 18 inches. 



We have included this bird, as it is perhaps as 

 handsome as any in all Egypt, but it may be 

 questioned whether many of our readers will come 

 across it, for it lives in dense reed beds which grow 

 in the large lakes of the Delta and Fayoom, and 

 rarely quits them for the waters of the Nile. Our 

 own Waterhen, or Moorhen, is a sort of near 

 cousin of this bird, but whereas our bird always 

 gives the impression of being animated and cheery, 

 this Egyptian Gallinule somehow looks depressed 

 in spite of its brilliant plumage ; and when it walks, 

 it does so with no indecent haste, but slowly lifts 

 one leg whilst the long toes hang loosely, and then 

 gently places it down on the ground, all the while 

 holding its head and body nearly perpendicularly, 

 whilst, when not taking this strenuous exercise, it 



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