210 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
to be only subspecies of P. melanotus, but no long series is available, all these names 
having been given to odd birds. Hartert also ranged the species westward to Java, 
etc., and included all these as forms of P. calvus, but this does not seem, justified, 
though admittedly the matter is a difficult one. 
145. Porphyrio bellus.—BLUE BALD COOT. 
Gould, Vol. VI., pl. 70 (pt. v.), Dec. 1st, 1841. Mathews, Vol. I., pt. 5, pl. 59, Oct. 31st, 1911. 
Porphyrio bellus Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1840, p. 176, July 1841: Western Australia. 
Porphyrio melanotus woodwardi Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., pt. 2, p. 29, April 2nd, 
1912: Monger’s Lake, South-west Australia. 
DistRIBUTION.—South-west Australia. 
Adult male——Back, wings, and tail glossy blackish-brown ; lesser wing-coverts 
ultramarine-blue, forming a shoulder patch ; median and greater coverts like the 
back ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills blackish, with blue on the outer 
webs ; innermost secondaries like the back ; chin, lores, fore-part of cheeks, crown 
of head, hind-neck, and sides of neck blackish ; mantle purplish-blue like the lower- 
breast, sides of body, and outer portion of thighs; middle of abdomen and inner 
portion of thighs sooty-black ; throat and upper-breast verditer-blue ; axillaries 
blackish, tinged with verditer-blue ; lesser under wing-coverts verditer-blue, greater 
coverts glossy black, like the quills below; under tail-coverts pure white ; frontal 
plate and bill scarlet ; iris red-hazel, tarsi and feet olive-green to reddish. Total 
length 480 mm.; culmen, including frontal shield, 70, wing 293, tail 110, tarsus, 97. 
Adult female—Similar to the adult male, slightly less, but not so brilliantly 
coloured. 
Immature—Does not appear to have been described. 
Nestling—Black ; bill bluish, the base pink ; eyes deep brown, eyelid pik ; 
feet brown. 
Nest.—Similar to that of the Bald Coot (P. melanotus). 
Eggs.—Clutch, five (about) ; stout oval in shape ; texture of shell somewhat 
coarse ; surface glossy ; colour deep stone, fairly blotched and spotted with brown 
and purplish-brown of different shades. Dimensions 56-58 mm. by 40-42. 
Breeding-season.—August to November. 
Distribution and forms—Restricted to south-west Australia and therefore no 
subspecies. 
Famiry FULICIDA. 
Moorhens, which have developed peculiar swimming lobes to the toes of their 
feet, are here segregated as of family rank, especially as their distribution is world 
wide and they are of ancient origin. Thus fossil “ Fulica”’ have been described 
from Mauritius and from New Zealand, and as these had also become degraded and 
semi-flightless, the fixity of the Coot-form is of long date. 
Genus FULICA. 
Fulica Linné, Syst. Nat. 10th ed., p. 152, Jan. Ist, 1758. Type (by tautonomy): Fulica 
atra Linné. 
Birds like the species of Gallinula but differing in having the toes lobed. Bill 
stout and somewhat laterally compressed, shorter than the head, and with a large 
frontal shield. Nostrils pervious, elongated slits in the fore-part of the nasal groove ; 
wings short and rounded ; tarsus short, laterally compressed, provided posteriorly 
with a membranous fringe ; tail short, only about one-fourth the length of the wing, 
consisting of fourteen, sometimes sixteen, rectrices ; toes long, the middle toe without 
