of the Purple Gallinule in Captivity. 505 



The species is tolerably plentiful in Sicily wherever there 

 are any marshes or lakes of a fair size, such as at the 

 Pantano di Catania, the Biviere di Lentini, the river A'napo 

 near Syracuse, and at Vittoria on the sovith coast. I am 

 told there are also a few of these birds to be found in the 

 Mazzara marshes on the west coast of Sicily, 



Benoit, in his book on the birds of Sicily^ gives a good 

 description of some of the habits of this species, and Doder- 

 lein, in 'Avifauna del Modenese e della Sicilia,' reproduces 

 this description, and adds some further interesting notes. 

 Neither author, however, seems to have noticed the difference 

 between the voices of the male and female birds. That of 

 the male is low and sonorous, terminating with some hoarse 

 trumpet-like notes, while that of the female is shrill and ends 

 with a series of notes which may be very fairly rendered by 

 the word " crick " several times repeated. 



With regard to the powers of natation in this species 

 (which Benoit seems to have doubted), I can, from personal 

 observation, confidently affirm that, although as a rule it 

 shows a preference for dry land, it can and, when so required, 

 does swim with the greatest ease and facility. I have 

 even seen chicks only a few days old swimming. The Italian 

 name of the Purple Gallinule is " Polio sultano,'' and the 

 Sicilian name " Gaddo fagiaiio " or " Gaddu fascianu.^' 



P.S. — Since this was written, now more than two months 

 ago, some changes have taken place in the plumage and 

 general characters of the young Purple Gallinules born in 

 January. 



The tirst blue contour-feathers appeared soon after the 

 completion of the second month, and about the end of the 

 third month the colour of the soft parts began to turn red. 



At the present time these young birds, which are now 

 about four months old, have the plumage of their upper 

 parts entirely blue, while that of their lower parts is also 

 blue to a great extent, although a few greyish down-feathers 

 still show. The soft parts are now all red, but of rather a 

 duller shade than that of the adult birds. The colour of the 

 iris is now also red. 



