180 BALLIDJE. 



in rice-fields by cutting down the growing rice. This Moorhen 

 breeds from July to September, makes a large rush nest, some- 

 times floating on water, sometimes in reeds, and lays 6 to 8 or even 

 10 eggs, pale pinkish in colour with numerous red and pale 

 purplish-grey spots and measuring about 1-93 by 1*39. 



Genus FULICA, Linn., 1766. 



The Coots, which constitute this, genus, are distinguished by 

 having their long toes fringed by a broad membrane divided into 

 convex lobes corresponding to the phalanges, and by the tarsus, 

 which is considerably shorter than the mid-toe without claw, 

 bearing a membranous fringe behind. The bill is of moderate 

 length, compressed, and rather deep, terminating on the forehead 

 in a frontal disk of varying form. The plumage of all species is 

 dark grey or blackish. Sexes alike. 



This genus is nearly cosmopolitan and includes about 12 species, 

 of which one is Indian. 



1405. Fulica atra. The Coot. 



Fulica atra, Linn. Sy*t. Nat.\,y. 257 (1766) ; Blyth, Cat. p. 286 ; 

 Jerdon, B. I. iii, p. 715 ; Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xli, pt. 2, p. 254 ; 

 Hume $ Henderg. Lih. to Y*rk. p. 293 ; Hume, S. F.\, p. 249 ; 

 Adam, ibid. p. 397 ; Sutler, S. F. iv, p. 20 ; v, p. 233 ; ix, p. 431 ; 

 Hume $ Dav. S. F. vi, p. 465 ; Ball, S. F. vii, p. 229 ; Hume, 

 Cat. no. 903 ; Scully, S. F. viii, p. 358 ; Tidal. S. F. ix, p. 86 ; 

 Biddulph, Ibis, 1881, p. 97; Scully, ibid. p. 590 ; Swinhoe, Ibi*, 

 1882, p. 122 ; Reid, S. F. x, p. 72 ; Damdson, ibid. p. 3:22 ; Taylor, 

 ibid. p. 466 ; Oates, B. B. ii, p. 352; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 366 ; 

 id. Jour. Bom. N. H. Soc. vi, p. 136; Hume, S. F. xi, p. 327 ; 

 Oates in Hume's N. fy E. 2nd ed. iii, p. 386 ; Sharpe, Yark. Miss., 

 Axes, p. 145 ; id. Cat. B. M. xxiii, p. 210. 



Dasari, Dasarni, Ari, Khuskul, Thekari, H. ; Barra Godan (Purneah) ; 

 Boli-kodi, Tel. 



Coloration. Head, neck, and lower tail-coverts black; upper 

 plumage from neck blackish grey with a steel-blue tinge ; lower 

 plumage paler and more ashy ; edge of wing and outer web of first 

 primary white or whitish. 



Young birds are brown with the lower plumage partly white 

 and with white tips to the secondary quills. 



Bill and shield bluish white ; irides red; legs and toes liver- 

 brown, tinged with green on the tarsus ; in summer there is a ring 

 of yellow-green and red round the tibia (Oates}. 



Length 16 ; tail 2-25 ; wing 8-5 ; tarsus 2-25 ; bill from gape 1-4. 



Distribution. The greater part of Europe and Asia, with Japan, 

 the Philippines, and the Ma^ay Archipelago as far as Java. The 

 Coot has not been observed in Ceylon, but it is found in almost 

 all parts of India and Burma where there are large pieces of water 



