GALLrNTTLA. 389 



Gallinula chloropus (Linu.). The Moor-hen. 



Gallinula chloropus (Linn.), Jerd. B. Ind.ii, p. 718; Hume, Rough 

 Draft N. $ E. no. 905. 



The Moor-hen breeds pretty well throughout India, alike in the 

 plaius and in the hills, as high as Ootacamund in the Nilghiris, and 

 up to 6000 feet in the Himalayas, as in Cashmere, or near Syree 

 below Simla. 



In the hills they seem to have two broods, laying first early in 

 May and again in the latter half of July. In the plains I have 

 only found their nests in July, August, and September, and the 

 majority in August. A very small patch of swamp and rush will 

 satisfy the Moor-hen as a nesting-site. 



The nest varies much in size and situation. Sometimes there is 

 no nest at all, only a quantity of rush and rice bent down in situ 

 to form a platform to support the eggs. Sometimes it is built up 

 in the water like a Coot's. Often it is in some tuft or tussock of 

 grass in a swamp, ditch, or pond. Occasionally it is wedged up 

 several inches above the water in some tamarisk or babool bush 

 growing in a lake or jheel. In these latter cases, and I have seen two 

 such, the nest is rather neater and more carefully built, composed 

 of soft dry flag, with a well-formed shallow circular cavity lined 

 with somewhat finer rush. Generally the nest, when there is one, 

 though firm enough (not nearly so firm, however, as a Coot's) is a 

 rather ragged affair, the lower portion rotting in the water and the 

 upper part very carelessly put together, of dry or half-dry straw, 

 flags, rush, or reed, and not unfrequently an admixture of weeds. 



I think nine is the full complement of eggs, but many more 

 (whether belonging to one or more females I cannot say) are 

 occasionally met with in one nest. I quote here a few of my old 

 notes : 



"August 14tf*, Achulda Jheel, Zillah Etawah. We found 

 several nests of this bird. The jheel is a shallow one, entirely 

 grown over with wild rice. Where the rice is thickest, a dozen or 

 twenty stems were bent down to near the level of the water, and 

 there a sort of hollow was made apparently by the bird sitting on 

 the bent-down stems, and in this, without any other pretence for a 

 nest, the eggs were laid. In one we found nine, but in others 

 only two and one, eggs ; all were fresh. The ground-colour was pale 

 drab or stone-colour, thinly but pretty uniformly spotted and 

 speckled with brownish red or maroon. In some the ground-colour 

 is more pink ; in others more cold and stone-like. Most of the 

 eggs, besides the specks and spots, exhibit a few blotches of the 

 same colour ; perhaps there is a tendency for these blotches to be 

 more frequent towards the large end. The eggs vary a good deal 

 in size and shape, and in the amount of markings, but the general 

 character is rather a long oval, a good deal compressed towards the 

 small end." 



" Raliun, August 16^,1867. Found eight more nests, eggs 

 nearly fresh. We did not get more than nine eggs in any nest. 

 Those we took were exactly similar to those above described." 



