RALLIDJE GALLINULA 261 



near Eshowe (Woodward), near Newcastle (Butler) ; Transvaal 

 Mooi River at Potchefstroom (Ayres), Rooi Rand in Zoutspans- 

 berg (W. Ayres), Lydenburg (S. A. Mus.) ; Bechuanaland Lake 

 Ngami (Andersson), Nocana (Fleck); Rhodesia near Salisbury 

 (Marshall), near Victoria Falls (S. A. Mus.) ; German South-west 

 Africa Otjimbinque, Schmelens Hope, Omanbonde and Okavango 

 (Andersson); Portuguese East Africa Tete (Peters). 



Habits. The Black Crake is found only in the reeds and rushes 

 bordering the vleis and rivers ; it is shy and skulking, moving about 

 quickly under covert and seldom showing itself ; consequently it 

 appears to be rare and is seldom obtained. It has a curious charac- 

 teristic note syllabled as " check check " by Marshall, and it swims 

 well. 



Mr. Millar, who has taken the eggs of this Crake, writes as 

 follows : " On August 16th, 1902, at Clairmont, near Durban, I found 

 a nest in the rushes floating on the water. It was composed of 

 dry rushes and contained two eggs measuring 1-3 X 0*9. These 

 are pointed at both ends, the ground colour being bright cream, 

 minutely spotted with brown throughout, most thickly at the 

 obtuse end." 



Mr. Austin Roberts has also found the eggs of this Crake near 

 Potchefstroom. In this case the nest was about a foot above the 

 water in a dense bed of rushes in a vlei. It was about nine inches 

 across and six inches deep and composed of dry rushes. The eggs 

 were four in number. 



Genus VIII. GALLINULA. 



Type. 

 Gallinula, Briss. Orn. vi. p. 3 (1760) G. chloropus. 



Bill short and stout, the culmen shorter than the inner toe and 

 claw ; a frontal shield, rounded posteriorly, at the base of the upper 

 mandible ; nostrils elongated ovals in a distinct depression ; wings 

 long and fairly well developed, the first primary longer than the 

 longest secondaries which fall short of the longest primaries by 

 more than the length of the hind toe ; tarsus distinctly shorter than 

 the middle toe and claw ; toes with a narrow lateral membrane, but 

 not webbed or lobed. 



Some six species of Moorhens are included in this genus ; two 

 of these are spread over the greater part of Africa and are included 

 in our fauna. 



