88 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



GENUS IONORN1S REICHENBACH. 



? Porphyrula BLTTH, Cat. B. Asiat. Soc. 1849, 283. Type, P. chloronotus BLYTH. 



lonornis KEICHENB. Syst. Av. 1853, p. xxi. Type, Fulica martinica LINN. 



CHAE. Similar to Gallinula but form more slender, nostrils small and oval, middle toe 



shorter than the tarsus, and the toes'without trace of lateral membrane. Colors very hand 



some (chiefly opaque blue, purple, and green). 



Whether the American species, to which the generic name 

 adopted above is properly applicable, is congeneric with the old 

 world species (Porphyrio chloronotus BLYTH, nee VIEILL.), which 

 is the type of the genus Porphyrula BLYTH, is at present un- 

 certain. \Cf. D. G. ELLIOT: "The Genus Porphyrio and its 

 Species;" separate pamphlet, from "Stray Feathers," pp. 1-20.] 



lonornis martinica (Linn.) 



PURPLE GALLINULE. 

 Popular synonyms. Blue Coot; Blue Peter; Blue Mud-hen. 



Fulica martinica LINN. S. N. i, 1766. 259. 



Gallinula martinica LATH. 1790. NUTT. Man. ii, 1834, 221. AUD. O- n. Biog. iv. 1838, 37. 

 pl. 305; Synop. 1839, 210; B. Am. v, 1842. 128, pi. 303.-CASS. in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 

 753. BAIED, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, No. 561. 

 Porphyrio martinica GOSSE, Birds Jam. 1847, 377. COUES, Key, 1872, 275; Check List, 



1873, No. 473. 



lonornis martinica REICH. A v. Syst. 1853. 21. RIDGW. Proc. U.S.Nat. Mus. iii. 1881. 

 202,227;Nom. N. Am. B.1881, No.578; Man.N.Am. B. 1887, 141. COUES, Check List, 

 2d ed. 1882, No. 685; A. O. U. Check List 1886, No. 218. 

 GaUinula porphyrio WiLS.Am. Orn. ix,1824, 69, pl. 73. 



HAB. The whole of tropical and warm-temperate America, south to Brazil; north, cas- 

 ually, to Massachusetts, Maine, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Missouri. Ber- 

 mudas and throughout West Indies. Not recorded from any part of the United States 

 west of the Bocky Mountains. 



SP. CHAE. Adult: Head, neck, and lower parts slaty bluish purple, darker (sometimes 

 nearly black) on abdomen and tibiae; crissum pure white; upper parts bright olive-green, 

 changing to bright verditer-blue toward the purple of the lower'parts, the sides and lining 

 of wing also greenish blue ; wings brighter green than the back, and shaded with bright ver- 

 diter-blue. Frontal shield bright blue in life (greenish or olivaceous in drie<l skin); bill 

 bright red, tipped with yellow; iris crimson; legs and feet yellowish. Young: Above, light 

 fulvous-brown, tinged with greenish on wings ; beneath, fulvous or buff y, the belly whitish; 

 "frontal shield smaller than in adult, dusky (in skins); bill dull yellowish. Downy young: 

 "Entirely black," (A.UDUBON). Total length about 12.50 inches; wing, 7.00-7.50; culmen (in- 

 cluding frontal shield), 1.85-1.95; tarsus, 2.25-2.50; middle toe, 2.25-2.35. 



Specimens vary remarkably in the size and form of the frontal 

 plate. In 36,785 Ceara, Brazil, it is broader than long, and its 

 posterior margin rounded; usually it is longer than broad, and 

 its posterior extremity an angle sometimes acute. There is also 

 much difference among individuals in the intensity of the colors. 



1 The interrogation mark here implies the doubt as to whether the Indian bird is con- 

 generic with the American species. Should such prove to be the case, which we do not re- 

 gard probable, our bird would stand as Porphyrula martinica. 



