Birds of Madagascar. 1 05 



be taken by the liand froiu tlic nest : so also, when they arc 

 surprised in places where there is no cover, they prefer to l)e 

 captured rather than to resort to flight. M. Pollen says, " I 

 once saw a hen bird who would not quit the space near her 

 nest, but kept walking around it, ruffling her feathers and 

 dragging her wings on the ground, in the same way as our 

 domestic hen does when defending her young." This Rail's 

 nest is made of rushes ; it is about 6 inches in diameter, and 

 is fixed on water-plants about '3 feet above the ground. The 

 eggs are three in number, yellowish white in colour, blotched 

 with dark brown, and as large as tliose of a Rook. 



The Grey-faced Rail is much rarer than the bird just de- 

 scribed, and inhabits the forest exclusively, often at some 

 distance from water-courses. 



Several of the nanaes of these Rails are significant ; thus 

 the Ralhis gular'is is called, besides its names of Tsikbza and 

 Tsika (proljably imitative of its creaking note), Anybhj, 

 doubtless identical with the same word which means " arti- 

 fice, deceit, snare,'' and so refers to its tricks to escape cap- 

 ture. The same idea again comes in in one of the names of 

 the Grey-faced Rail, Otrika, which means " an ambush," no 

 doubt from its rapidly taking to cover when liuntcd. The 

 Madagascar Rail is also called Herihery, probably from a 

 root meaning "to look around," " to look back." Mhiamaso, 

 " Red-eye," Akbholahindruno , " Water- cock," Vbron- 

 ampombo, '' Bran- (or Chaff-) bird," and Fanyalatrovy , 

 "Yam-tliief,'^ are all noticeable native names of the birds of 

 this family. 



The two Purple Water-hens [Porphyriu) found in Mada- 

 gascar inland waters are among the most beautiful of the birds 

 inhabiting the island. Some of their native names, as Hose- 

 trika, Huetrika, &c., appear to contain a root meaning " to 

 dip," " to plunge," and so refer to tlieir constantly diving in 

 the waters they frequent. (Or, possibly, these names may be 

 from another root, meaning " to wander about.") Mr. W. 

 Wilson says : '' The Blue Water-hen has a very powerful beak, 

 with which it can, with apparently very little trouble, root up 

 the Herana rush, as it grows on the edge of Lake Itasy in 



