( 64 ) 



anterior portion of the bill duller. Iris 

 red, eyelids plumbeous. Legs and toes 

 red. In females the bill is yellowish 

 horny. Iris yellowish brown. Legs 

 and feet dusky green." The forehead 

 is covered with a red frontal plate or 

 shield. Plumage black mixed with 

 brown above. The female has upper 

 parts brown mixed with yellow. The 

 throat is whitish. Under parts light 

 yellow barred with brown. The under 

 tail coverts are white in the male and 

 buff in the female barred in both sexes 

 with dark brown. 



Yotmg birds like females except as 

 to bars on lower plumage, which are 

 either lacking or indistinct. 



Distribution. — India, Philippines, 

 South and Central China. Summer 

 visitant in the Yangtse Valley. 



Nest and Eggs. — The nest is a 

 shallow pad of dry vegetation, the 

 outside layer being twisted about the 

 stalks of herbage which support it. 

 It is usually about two feet above the 

 ground. 



The eggs are either a glossy greenish 

 cream color, or sometimes a dull 

 creamy buff washed reddish, and all 

 over more or less spotted and blotched 

 with pale red, with underlying spots 

 of pale purple. The number and size 

 of the spots varies quite considerably. 



Notes. — The water cock is a shy, 

 secretive bird living for the most part 

 concealed in the thick growths along 

 the banks of streams or in the swamps. 

 It is best seen about dask in the 

 mai'shes, when it will frequently come 

 out on the hummocks or ridges in 

 plain view. We once came upon one 

 in a small piece of marshy ground as it 

 was giving its call. The bii'd, a male, 

 was so much interested in its own 



