76 Mr. P. W. Munn on the Birds 



call-bird ; the male birds, however, are very rarely caught iu 

 this way. I have had as many as eighteen females brought 

 to me which had been thus captured, without a single male 

 bird, and, as they were caught during the breeding-season, 

 some of them had even laid eggs in the basket in which they 

 were brought to me. 



142. TuRNix TANKi. (Larger Bustard-Quail.) 

 Uncommon, resident, and generally distributed, differing 



very little in its habits from T. taigoor. Breeding during 

 April and May, the nest being built among grass or brambles, 

 and exactly resembling that of T. taigoor, though the eggs 

 are considerably smaller. When in the nest the bird sits 

 very close, and I have even removed the top part o£ the nest 

 before the bird flew off. 



On the wing, this bird had a more reddish appearance than 

 the Bustard-Quail. 



143. PoRPHYRIO POLIOCEPHALUS. (Purplc CoOt.) 



Resident and very locally distributed. They are occa- 

 sionally to be seen on a tank at the side of the E. B, S. 

 Railway near Dum Dum. In January 1891 I observed 

 great numbers among some tall reeds in the midst of a 

 jheel near Baraset, and, wading through the water and 

 pushing through the reeds, caused them to rise with a great 

 commotion, several at a time. 



144. FuLicA ATRA. (Common Coot.) 



I have only once met with this species, in January 1891, 

 in the same locality as the Purple Coot, mentioned above. 



145. Gallicrex cinereus. (Water-cock.) 



Generally distributed and resident, but not very often 

 seen on account of its partiality for thick cover in the jheels 

 and usually inaccessible places, though it is sometimes met 

 with in paddy-fields and on the edges of small tanks. 



146. Gallinula chloropus. (Common Moorhen.) 

 Fairly common, resident, and found in small numbers in 



most of the jheels and on the larger tanks, especially those 



