210 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



to'be only subspecies of P. melanotus, but no long series is available, all these names 

 having been given to odd birds. Hartert also ranged the species westward to Java, 

 etc., and included all these as forms of P. calvus, but this does not seem justified, 

 though admittedly the matter is a difficult one. 



145. Porphyrio bellus. BLUE BALD COOT. 



Gould, Vol. VI., pi. 70 (pt. v.), Dec. 1st, 1841. Mathews, Vol. I., pt. 5, pi. 59, Oct. 31st, 1911. 



Porphyrio bellus Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1840, p. 176, July 1841 : Western Australia. 

 Porphyrio melanotus woodwardi Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. I., pt. 2, p. 29, April 2nd, 

 1912 : Monger's Lake, South-west Australia. 



DISTRIBUTION. South-west Australia. 



Adult male. Back, wings, and tail glossy blackish-brown ; lesser wing-coverts 

 ultramarine-blue, forming a shoulder patch ; median and greater coverts like the 

 back ; bastard-wing, primary -coverts, and quills blackish, with blue on the outer 

 webs ; innermost secondaries like the back ; chin, lores, fore-part of cheeks, crown 

 of head, hind-neck, and sides of neck blackish ; mantle purplish-blue like the lower- 

 breast, sides of body, and outer portion of thighs ; middle of abdomen and inner 

 portion of thighs sooty-black ; throat and upper-breast verditer-blue ; axillaries 

 blackish, tinged with verditer-blue ; lesser under wing-coverts verditer-blue, greater 

 coverts glossy black, like the quills below ; under tail-coverts pure white ; frontal 

 plate and bill scarlet ; iris red-hazel, tarsi and feet olive-green to reddish. Total 

 length 480 mm. ; culmen, including frontal shield, 70, wing 293, tail 110, tarsus, 97. 



Adult female. Similar to the adult male, slightly less, but not so brilliantly 

 coloured. 



Immature. Does not appear to have been described. 



Nestling. Black ; bill bluish, the base pink ; eyes deep brown, eyelid pink ; 

 feet brown. 



jfest. Similar to that of the Bald Coot (P. melanotus). 



Eggs. Clutch, five (about) ; stout oval in shape ; texture of shell somewhat 

 coarse ; surface glossy ; colour deep stone, fairly blotched and spotted with brown 

 and purplish-brown of different shades. Dimensions 56-58 mm. by 40-42. 



Breeding-season. August to November. 



Distribution and forms. Restricted to south-west Australia and therefore no 

 subspecies. 



FAMILY FULICID^E. 



Moorhens, which have developed peculiar swimming lobes to the toes of their 

 feet, are here segregated as of family rank, especially as their distribution is world 

 wide and they are of ancient origin. Thus fossil " Fulica " have been described 

 from Mauritius and from New Zealand, and as these had also become degraded and 

 semi -flightless, the fixity of the Coot-form is of long date. 



Genus FULICA. 



Fulica Linne, Syst. Nat. 10th ed., p. 152, Jan. 1st, 1758. Type (by tautonomy) : Fulica 

 atra Linne. 



Birds like the species of Gallinula but differing in having the toes lobed. Bill 

 stout and somewhat laterally compressed, shorter than the head, and with a large 

 frontal shield. Nostrils pervious, elongated slits in the fore-part of the nasal groove ; 

 wings short and rounded ; tarsus short, laterally compressed, provided posteriorly 

 with a membranous fringe ; tail short, only about one-fourth the length of the wing, 

 consisting of fourteen, sometimes sixteen, rectrices ; toes long, the middle toe without 



