88 birds of illinois. 



Genus IONORNIS Reichenbach. 



? Porphyrula Bltth, Cat. B. Asiat. Soc. 1819, 28.'?. Type. P. chloronotus Bltth. ' 



lonornis Beichenb. Syst. Av. 1853, p. xxi. Type, Fulica martinica Linn. 



Chak. Similar to Gallinulahut form more slender, nostrils small and oval, middle toe 



shorter than the tarsus, and the toes without trace of lateral membrane. Colors very hand. 



some (chiefly opaque blue, purple, and green). 



Whether the American species, to which the generic name 

 adopted above is properly applicable, is cong;eneric with the old 

 world species {Porphyrin chloronotiis Blyth, nee Vieill.), which 

 is the type of the genus Porphyrula Blyth, is at present un- 

 certain. [6Y. D. G. Elliot: "The Genus Porphyrio and its 

 Species;" separate pamphlet, from "Stray Feathers," pp. 1-20.] 



lonornis martinica (Linn.) 



PUEPLE GALLINTJLE. 

 Popular synonyms. Blue Coot; Blue Peter; Blue Mud-hen. 

 Fulica martinica Linn. S. N. i, 1766. 259. 

 tiallinula martinica Lath. 1790.— Nutt. Man. ii, 1834, 221.— AUD. Orn. Biog. iv. 1838. 37. 

 pi. 305; Synop. 183!), 210; B. Am. v, 1S42. 128, pi. 303.— Cass, in Baird's B. N. Am. l&iS, 

 753.— Baird. Cat. N. Am. B. 1859. No. .501. 

 Porphyria viartinica Goss'E.'SiivAs Jam. 1847, 377.— CouES, Key, 1872,275; Check List, 



1873, No. 473. 

 /onoi-nis wartmtcaEEiCH.Av. Syst. 1853. 21.— BiDGW. Proc. U.S.Nat, Mus. iii, 1881. 

 202,227;Nom. N. Am. B.188], No. 578; Man.N.Am. B. 1887, 141.— CouES, Check List. 

 2d ed. 1882. No. 685; A. O. U. Check List 1886, No. 218. 

 Qallinula porphyrio Was. Am. Orn. ix, 1824, 69, pi. 73. 



Hab. The whole of tropical and warm-temperate America, south to Brazil; north, cas- 

 ually, to Massachusetts, Maine, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin. Illinois, and Missouri. Ber- 

 mudas and throughout West Indies. Not recorded from any part of the United States 

 west of the Eoeky Mountains. 



Sp. Chak. Adult: Head. neck, and lower parts slaty bluish purple. darker (sometimes 

 nearly black) on abdomen and tibia;; crissum pure white; upper parts bright oUve-green. 

 changing to bright verditer-blue toward the purple of the lower'parts. the sides and lining 

 of wing also greenish blue; wings brighter green than the back.and shaded with bright ver- 

 ditcr-blue. Frontal shield bright blue in life (greenish or oHvaceous in dried skin); bill 

 bright red. tipped with yellow; iris crimson; legs and feet yellowish. Young: Above, light 

 fulvous-brown, tinged with greenish on wings; beneath, fulrous or buff y, the belly wliitish; 

 frontal shield smaller than in adult, dusky (in skins); bill dull yellowish. Sownti uoung: 

 "Entirely black," (Audubon). Total length about 12.50 inches; wing, 7.00-7.50; culmon (in- 

 cluding frontal shield), 1.85-1.95; tarsus. 2.25-2.50; middle toe, 2.25-2.35. 



Specimens varj^ remarkably in the size and form of the frontal 

 plate. In 3G,785 Ceara, Brazil, it is broader than long, and its 

 posterior margin rounded; usually it is longer than broad, and 

 its posterior extremity an angle — sometimes acute. There is also 

 much difference among individuals in the intensity of the colors. 



' The interrogation mark here implies the doubt as to whether the Indian bird is con- 

 generic with the American species. Should such prove to be the case, which we do not re- 

 gard probable, our bird would stand as Porphyrula martinica. 



