BLACK MOORHEN. 205 



the sides and back. The toes are very long with lateral membranes, the middle 

 toe longest and exceeding the tarsus in length ; the outer and inner subequal ; toes- 

 very long and thin ; hind-toe long. 



Coloration : olive-brown back ; dark leaden -grey head and under-surf ace ; lateral 

 under tail-coverts white. 



141. Gallinula tenebrosa. BLACK MOORHEN. 



Gould, Vol. VI., pi. 73 (pt. xxiii.), March 1st, 1846. Mathews, Vol. I., pt. 4, pi. 57, Aug. 9th, 



1911. 



Gallinula tenebrosa Gould, Birds Austr., pt. xxin., March 1st, 1846 : South Australia. 



Gallinula tenebrosa magnirostris Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 195, Jan. 31st, 1912 ; 



Guilford, West Australia. 



Gallinula tenebrosa subfrontata Mathews, ib. : Richmond River, New South Wales. 



DISTRIBUTION. Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South and West Australia. Not 

 Tasmania. 



Adult male. General colour dark slate-grey, including the head, hind-neck 

 and under-surface, becoming paler on the lower-abdomen ; entire back and scapulars 

 tinged with brown ; wing-coverts dark slate-grey ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts 

 and quills black ; tail-feathers black, more or less fringed with brown on the outer 

 webs ; central under tail -co verts black, the lateral ones white ; bill, frontal plate 

 orange, base blood-red, tip greenish-yellow, above the knee a garter of yellow and 

 scarlet ; joints of legs and feet olive ; sides of tarsi and frontal plates of toes 

 yellow ; iris olive. Total length 360 mm. ; culmen, including frontal shield, 47, 

 wing 220, tail 80, tarsus 65. 



Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 



Immature male. Similar to the adult female but having the under-surface 

 paler with white margins to the feathers, most conspicuously on the chin and lower- 

 abdomen ; a line round the bend of the wing white, as also the outer edge of the 

 first primary ; bill mottled green and horn in male ; mottled green and black (lower 

 base green), frontal plate black in female ; legs, $ olive-green, $ grass-green. 



Nestling in down. Greenish-black above, sooty -black below, with white 

 hair-like tips to the down on the chin and throat, the skin of the top of the head 

 shining bluish through the scant down ; bright red frontal plate. 



Nest. Slightly concave on the top, composed of dead flags or rushes, some- 

 times with twigs added ; lined with the paper-like bark of tea -tree (Melaleuca), 

 and placed in water among rushes, etc., or at the base of tea-trees. Dimensions 

 over all, about 12 inches ; height (from the water) about 12 inches. 



Eggs. Clutch, seven to ten ; smooth and glossy ; ground-colour buff ; blotched 

 and spotted with purplish-brown over the entire surface ; axis 53 to 54 mm., 

 diameter 36. 



Breeding -season. November to January. 



Distribution and forms. Australia only. Three subspecies have been distin- 

 guished as follows : O. t. tenebrosa Gould, from South Australia, Victoria and 

 southern New South Wales ; G. t. magnirostris Mathews, from South-western 

 Australia with a notably larger bill ; and O. t. subfrontata Mathews, from northern 

 New South Wales and southern Queensland, a smaller form in every dimension. 



Genus MICROTRIBONYX. 



Microtribonyx Sharpe, Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club, Vol. I., p. xxix., Jan. 26th, 1893. Type (by 

 original designation) : Gallinula ventralis Gould. 



Large Moorhens with short, very stout, bills, long wings, short square tail and 

 long legs and short toes. 



