366 GALLINU LINJE. 



lower parts of the cheeks, chin, and throat, pale coerulean-blue, 

 more or less edged with purplish-grey, and passing into the purer 

 blue of the lower neck and breast ; abdomen, sides of the body 

 and vent abruptly deep purple; the thigh-coverts dull blue; 

 under tail-coverts pure white ; lower wing-coverts dull pale blue ; 

 quills and tail beneath glossy blackish. 



The Purple Coot occurs abundantly in all suitable localities, 

 throughout the region. It is a permanent resident, breeding from 

 July to September ; the nest is composed of grass and weeds, 

 heaped together, with a central depression ; it is generally float- 

 ing, but occasionally it is found on the ground, in a dense patch 

 of grass or reeds. 



The eggs, eight or ten in number, are oval in shape, but they 

 vary somewhat. The ground color of the egg, when fresh, is 

 a pure salmon or pinkish-stone color, but they rapidly fade. 

 The markings consist of spots, streaks, and blotches of rich red 

 color, with underlying clouds of pale purple. They have no 

 gloss. 



They measure 1*93 inches in length by about T39 in breadth. 



GENUS, Fulica, Lin. 



Bill moderate or short, thick ; the upper mandible gradually 

 deflected, compressed, extending backwards into a horny shield on 

 the forehead ; nostrils small, placed in the middle of the bill ; wings 

 short, concave, with a tubercle at the flexure ; second and third 

 quils longest ; tail very short ; tarsus moderate, compressed ; 

 toes very long, bordered by a wide lobed membrane ; claws short, 

 curved and sharp. 



Plumage dense, soft, but open in texture. 



Fulica atra, Lin. 



903. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 715 ; Butler, Guzerat ; 

 Stray Feathers, Vol. IV, p. 20 ; Deccan, Stray Feathers, Vol. 

 IX, p. 431 ; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 261 ; 

 Swinhoe and Barnes, Central India ; Ibis, 1885, p. 135. 



THE BALD COOT. 



Length, 15 to 16 ; wing, 775 ; tail, 2 ; bill at gape, T4. 



Bill dead white in winter, tinged slightly with rosy in the 

 breeding season ; frontal disc white ; irides blood -red ; feet dull 

 green, with a garter of yellow green and red above the joint in 

 summer. 



Head and neck deep black ; upper plumage greyish -black ; below 

 the same, with an ashy tinge. 



The Common Coot occurs abundantly throughout the region. 



It is a permanent resident, making a large nest of reeds 

 and rushes, in water a foot or so deep ; the nest is based upon 

 the ground, but rises several inches above the water level. 

 Occasionally they are built upon the ground close to the waters 



