248 RALLID^E. 



The Purple Waterhen (a large and very handsome bird) is, on 

 the Spanish side of the Straits, very irregular in its appearance 

 both as to time and locality. In some years, during January and 

 February, they are to be seen near Gibraltar in situations where 

 they do not occur at any other time, and are then, doubtless, on 

 migration. 



In wet seasons they nest near Casas Viejas in April, in the 

 Soto Malabrigo, where I have shot them as late as the 27th of 

 October. They are very difficult to flush without a dog ; when 

 they rise they make a flapping noise, and with a heavy flight 

 merely take refuge in the nearest thick patch of rushes or wet 

 sedgy jungle, whence, from being Crake-like in their habits, it is 

 almost impossible to make them rise a second time. Some are 

 to be found in a few places at the edge of the marisma of the 

 Guadalquivir. The nest resembles that of the Common Coot ; 

 and the eggs, which are richly coloured, are laid towards the end 

 of April. 



The gizzards of those which I have examined contained nothing 

 but vegetable matter (grass, seeds of rushes, &c.), with a good 

 deal of coarse gravel. 



Purplish blue, darkest on tail ; tail-coverts white. Bill and frontal 

 shield bright red ; legs and feet red. Length 16-18 inches. 



275. Fulica atra, Linnaeus. The Common Coot. 



Moorish. El Ghor (Favier). Spanish. Mancon, Gallareta. 



" This Coot is resident near Tangier, but is not very numerous, 

 often consorting with Fulica cristata. Some are migratory, 

 passing northwards during the months of January and February, 

 and returning in August and September." Favier. 



We found the Common Coot abundant near Tetuan in March ; 

 and they are common on the Spanish side, particularly in winter, 

 when very large flocks appear, and some are then to be seen on 

 the inundation at the North Front. They breed about the 

 middle of April in all large swamps, particularly at the Laguna 



