86 JUNGLE FOLK 



come across the bird when out snipe-shooting, and, 

 thinking it a rare and valuable species, pay it the very 

 doubtful compliment of shooting it. As the museum 

 has now a sufficient stock of stuffed porphyries to meet 

 its requirements for the next few decades, I hope that 

 sportsmen in that part of the world will in future stay 

 their hand when they come across the beautiful swamp- 

 hen. 



Rush-covered marshes, lakes, and jhils, which are 

 overgrown with reeds and thick sedges, form the happy 

 hunting-grounds of this species. Its long toes enable 

 it to run about on the broad floating leaves of aquatic 

 plants. They also make it possible for the bird to cling 

 to the stems of reeds and bushes. Very strange is the 

 sight it presents when so doing — a bird as big as a 

 fowl behaving like a reed warbler. The long toes of the 

 porphyrio are not webbed, but are provided with 

 narrow lobes which enable it to swim, though not with 

 the same ease as its cousin, the bald coot. 



In places where it is abundant the purple swamp- 

 hen is very sociable, and keeps much more to cover 

 than does the coot. When flushed, it flies well and 

 swiftly, with its legs pointing backwards — the position 

 so characteristic of the legs of the heron during flight. 

 Its diet is largely vegetarian, and it is said to commit 

 much havoc in paddy fields. The harm it does is 

 probably exaggerated, for the purple coot flourishes 

 in many districts where no paddy is grown. 



This species has one very unrail-like habit, that of 

 taking up its food in its claws. Its European cousin, 

 P. veterum, was seen by Canon Tristram " to seize a 



