GALLICREX. 165 



abdomen, vent and under tail coverts deep chestnut ; bill yellow with a tinge 

 of green; irides blood red. 



Length. — 12 to 13 inches; wing 65 ; tail 2*5 ; bill at front 1*5. 



Hab. — Sind and throughout the Indian Peninsula, Ceylon and Burmah. 

 In Sind not uncommon along the canals and the Indus. Breeds from May to 

 August. Eggs greyish, with a light reddish tinge, spotted and blotched with 

 various shades of red and bluish grey ; affects generally the heavy undergrowth 

 along the edges of canals. 



Gen. Gallicrex.— ^/>'M. 



Bill as in GalUnula, with the base of the bill extending on to the forehead 

 and forming a fleshy protuberance ; toes long ; hind toe and claws about half 

 the length of the mid-toe ; claws curved. 



204. Gallicrex Cinereus (Gw.), Hume, Nests and Eggs Ind. B. 



p. 596; Wald., Trans. Zool. Soc. ix. p. 229; Oates, Str. F. v. p. 165; 

 Wardlaw-Ramsay, Ibis, 1877, p. 477; Legge, B. Ceylon, p. 791 ; Murray, 

 Vert. Zool. Sind, p. 261 ; Oates, B. Br. Burm. ii. p. 349; Mtirray, Avif. 



Brit. Ind. ii. p. 646, No. 1335. Fulica cinerea, GnieL, Syst. Nat. i. p. 702. 



Gallinula cristata. Lath., hid. Orn. ii. p. 779, Gallicrex cristatus, Jerd., 



B. Ind. iii. p. 716 ; Blyth and Wald., B. Burm. p. 161. — The Water Cock. 



Male in Breeding Plumage. — Dull black, the feathers of the back, wing 

 coverts, rump and upper tail coverts more or less edged with light brown ; 

 tertials dark brown, edged with pale whitey brown; edge of the wing white; 

 quills dusky, the shaft of the ist quill white ; tail blackish brown, the outer 

 feathers edged with pale brown ; lower wing coverts dusky with whitish edges ; 

 bill greenish yellow, fine red at the base ; the crest about one inch long, 

 fleshy red ; irides red ; legs dull red. 



Length.— 16 to 17 inches ; extent 23 ; wing 8-5 ; tail 3-5 ; tarsus 3. ijerd.) 



Fe?nale. — Top of head dull black or dusky brown; back of neck, back, 

 scapulars, wing coverts and tertiaries the same, the feathers edged with fulvous, 

 more broadly on the back and wings; tail the same; sides of the face includ- 

 ing a broad supercilium fulvous, in some with a rufescent tinge; chin and 

 throat fulvous white; neck in front, breast and entire under parts brownish 

 fulvous, the feathers with narrow transverse bars; thigh-coverts the same- 

 primaries and secondaries dusky brown; outer web of first quill fulvous. 



Length.— II to 1 4 inches; wing 7; tail 2-5 ; bill at gape 1*25 ; tarsus 2-5. 



Hab.—?)\nd, Lower Bengal, Tennaserim, South and Central India, Burmah 

 and Malayana. Affects large swamps and marshes, also the vicinity of rivers. 

 On the Aaral, at Sehwan, several may be seen in the early morning, issuino- 

 from the thick cover of tamarisk, fringing the banks, and running along the 

 edge of the water. 



