504 MOOR-HEN. 



Siberia. A closely-allied representative, G. s:alatea, is found in 

 America, and the well-defined G. sandviccnsis inhabits the Hawaiian 

 Islands ; while G. tenebrosa, which has no white stripes on the flanks, 

 is the Australian species. 



The nest is generally built in wet places, among reeds, sedge and 

 other aquatic plants or the roots of alders ; but it is often placed on 

 the low-lying branch of a tree over the water, and exceptionally at 

 an elevation of twenty feet or more from the ground. The materials 

 employed are dry reed-flags {Typha) and sedge^ matted together, and 

 the birds have been known to raise the structure when an inundation 

 was threatened. The eggs, 7-9 in number, are buffish-white speckled 

 with reddish-brown : average measurements i"65 by i'2 in. Incu- 

 bation, which lasts three weeks, sometimes begins in March, and 

 two if not three broods are produced in the season ; the young from 

 the first nest assisting their parents in building another, and even in 

 taking care of the second brood. The Moor-hen usually feeds on 

 slugs, worms, grass, grain when procurable, insects and their larvae ; 

 but it will also devour the young of other water-fowl, and is very 

 pugnacious towards the latter, as well as to members of its own 

 species. The call-note is a loud crek-rek-rek, several times repeated, 

 especially towards evening. 



The female, which is rather larger and more vividly coloured than 

 the male, has the fore part of the bill yellow, base and frontal plate 

 red ; irides reddish-hazel ; upper parts chiefly dark olivei-brown ; 

 head, neck and under parts dark slate-grey, with some white streaks 

 on the flanks ; belly and vent greyish ; under tail-coverts conspicu- 

 ously white ; legs greenish-yellow, with a red garter above the tarsal 

 joint. Length 13 in. ; wing 6-75. Young birds have the beak, 

 frontal plate, and legs dull green ; throat white ; under parts ash- 

 grey ; upper surface greyish-olive. 



The Purple Gallinule {Porphyria arruleus) and the Green-backed 

 (jallinule {P. sinaragdonoii/s) are frequently kept in semi-captivity, 

 and some of the individuals which have from time to time been cap- 

 tured in our Islands have been proved to have escaped ; so that it 

 may reasonably be assumed that the others were not genuine visitors. 

 Both species are particularly local inhabitants of the dense swamps 

 of the Mediterranean basin, and neither are addicted to distant 

 migrations. The Martinique Gallinule, P. martinicus, a common 

 species in tropical America, is stated by Thompson to have occurred 

 on the south-v/est coast of Ireland. 



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