BALLID^. 321 



the lower mandible ; the legs and toes are yellowish 

 brown. 



374. Limnocorax niger (Gmel.). Black Crake. 



GalUmdaJlavirostra, Swainson's Birds of West Africa, vol. ii. pi. 28. 

 Gallinula niger^ Layard's Cat. No. 642. 

 Rallus niger, Chapman's Travels in S. Afr., App. p. 421. 

 Ortygometra nigra^ Finsch & Hartlaub's Vogel Ost-Afrika's, p. 779. 

 Limnocorax niger, Gray's Hand-list of Birds, No. 10458. 



I have not unfrequently met with this species in 

 Damara Land in suitable localities, such as Objimbinque, 

 Schmelin's Hope, Omanbonde, &c. ; and it is by no 

 means uncommon on the rivers Okavango and Teoughe 

 and in the Lake-regions, though, from its excessively 

 shy habits and its partiality for dense reedy thickets, it 

 is difficult to obtain. The surest way of procuring spe- 

 cimens is to lie in ambush near one of their favourite 

 haunts ; but even thus success is not always certain. 



The iris is red ; the bill in the adult bird is yellow, 

 with a greenish tinge ; in the immature bird it is green ; 

 the legs are bright red in the adult, but paler in younger 

 specimens ; the red on the legs fades to almost a yellow 

 after death. 



GALLINULID^. 



375. Gallinula angulata, Sund. South-African Lesser Waterhen. 



Gallinula pumiln, Sclater, in Ibis, 1850, pi. 7. 



„ ,, Gurney, Birds Damar., Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, p. 3. 



Gallinula angulata, Layard's Cat. No. 641 . 



Ondonga, February 6th, 1867. — I find the Lesser 



