THE MOOR-HEN. 347 



therefore I cannot express any decided opinion about the distinctness or 

 identity of the two birds. 



The Ruddy Crake is said by Mr. Blyth to be common in Burmah. I 

 met with it at various places in Pegu, and should put it down as fairly 

 common and generally distributed in that Division. In Arrakan it is 

 probably the same. In Tenasserim, however, Mr. Davison never met with 

 it ; but it is premature to conclude that it is absent from that Division. 



It is found in various parts of the Indian peninsula and Ceylon, the 

 Indo- Burmese countries, and probably all the way down the Malay penin- 

 sula; for it is met with in Sumatra, Java, Borneo and the Philippine 

 Islands. 



This Crake is a constant resident in Burmah, and is the only one of the 

 Crakes which can be said to be at all common. It frequents all sorts of 

 jungle, provided there is Avater about ; and it comes out into the open 

 rather frequently. It breeds in Burmah ; but I have not been able to find 

 its nest. It nests in India in July and August, and its mode of nidification 

 does not appear to differ materially from that of the other Crakes. 



Genus GALLINULA, Sriss. 



699. GALLINULA CHLOROPUS. 

 THE MOOR-HEN. 



Fulica chloropus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 258. Gallinula chloropus, Jerd. B. 2nd. 

 ii. p. 718 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, p. 597 ; id. S. F. i. p. 250, iii. p. 187 ; Bl. 

 B. Sunn. p. 162 ; David et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 485 ; Anders. Yunnan Exped. 

 p. C92 ; Dresser, Birds Ear. vii. p. 313, pi. ; Hume $ Dav. S. F. vi. p. 466 ; Legge, 

 Birds Ceylon, p. 781 ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 113 ; Oates, S. F. x. p. 242. 



Description. Male and female. Whole head and neck dark smoky grey, 

 darker on the top of the head; back, rump, upper tail-coverts, scapulars, 

 tertiaries and upper wing-coverts rich rufescent olive-brown ; primaries 

 and secondaries brown, the outermost primary edged with white on the 

 outer web ; tail dark brown tinged with olive ; lower plumage from the 

 fore neck smoky grey ; the feathers of the abdomen, vent and lower breast 

 fringed with white ; the sides of the body broadly streaked with white ; 

 under tail- coverts white, with the exception of a few of the central feathers, 

 which are black ; under wing-coverts blackish, some of the feathers fringed 

 with white ; edge of the wing white. 



Iris red ; frontal shield and basal half of the bill dull red ; remainder of 

 the bill greenish yellow ; tibia and front of tarsus greenish yellow ; hind 



