186 Lieut. H. R. Kelham on 



webs of second and third, and borders round the ends of the 

 secondaries, whicli are black ; wing-feathers very lanceolate, 

 the first primary has at its tip a peculiar filament, the fourth 

 is very attenuated and pointed ; wing-coverts barred with 

 grey. 



PoRPHYRio cALVus, Vicill. The Purple Coot. 



One afternoon, while Teal-shooting in Perak, I was wading 

 about a jheel overgrown with weeds and aquatic plants, among 

 which I shot a specimen, my only one, of tins Coot. 



Its plumage reminded me much of Porphyrio cceru/eus 

 of Europe ; but it is smaller than that bird, also its beak and 

 legs are not of such a bright red. It feeds principally on 

 weeds and other green substances. The stomach of the one I 

 shot was very muscular, and contained vegetable matter and 

 a quantity of sand ; but possibly they occasionally prey on 

 the young of other birds, as their relation, P. ccerideus, 

 which T shot in Sicily, had there the reputation of killing 

 young Avildfowl ; also, when visiting Mr. Whampoa, a 

 Chinese gentleman residing in Singapore, he showed me a 

 very handsome pair of these Coots in his garden, but said he 

 was obliged to confine them in a cage, as, when let loose^ 

 they killed his chickens. 



My Perak specimen, a male, shot on 9th May 1877, was 

 17 inches in length ; neck, throat, and upper parts of the 

 breast ])ale greenish blue; back of neck and the abdomen 

 deep purple ; vent freckled with grey ; under tail-coverts 

 white ; wing-coA^erts light blue ; legs, beak, and frontal plate 

 dull red ; back and scapulars dark brown tinged with green 

 and blue. Soon after death the beautiful blue of its plumage 

 faded. 



There were two of these Purple Coots in the Botanical 

 Gardens, Singapore, also specimens in Raffies^s Museum. 



Gallickex cristata (Lath.). The Crested Water-cock. 



This Water- fowl is very plentiful, breeding among the jheels 

 and reedy swamps of Western ^lalayana. Personally 1 never 

 found a nest, but in Perak, during April, have shot males 

 with the red frontal plate, assumed only during the breeding- 



