Contrihutlom to the Omiihology of India, 8fc. 25Z 



907.— Porzana phoenicura, Penn. 



I did not myself meet with this species^ but Mr. James, c. s. 

 kindly sent me a specimen which he had procured in Jaauary on 

 the Barra canal, with the remark that thoug-h he never saw it 

 elsewhere, the men who were with him, told him it was common. 



909.— Porzana maruetta, Bris.—Ballus porza- 

 na, L. 



A single specimen of this rail was shot for me in the Roree 

 district by Dr. Day. We never happened to come across it 

 again, but sportsmen to whom I shewed the skin, informed me 

 that it was not uncommonly met with in tamarisk thickets in, 

 and on the edges of, swamps when beating for snipe. 



910 &i.§.— Porzana minuta, Pall ;— P. pusilla, 



Gmelin. 



The little rail is very abundant in Sindh. In some of the 

 inland pieces of water, that at Dost Alii for instance, a dozen 

 may be seen at the same time, busy feeding, running on the 

 lotus leaves, or again swimming rapidly from leaf to leaf. Baillon^s 

 crake, fP. pygmaa,) I never once met with in Sindh ; but 

 I have it from near Simla, up to a height of 4,000 feet, from 

 Etawah, Sirsanear Delhi, Raipoor, Dacca, and Tipperah, from 

 none of which I have seen minuta. In fact until I went to 

 Sindh, I never met with this latter bird in India, and Dr. 

 Jerdon does not include it in the birds of India. Fygiiima breeds 

 in the North- Western Provinces at any rate, as Mr. Brooks 

 and I took one nest containing three eggs in the Etawah district, 

 and minida breeds, as the boatmen told me, regularly in Sindh. 



Pygmaa may always be distinguished at a glance from minuta 

 by its smaller size, shorter, and in proportion deeper bill, and 

 by having the back, scapulars, and greater wing coverts all 

 more or less profusely variegated with bluish white, whereas in 

 minuta, the white markings which are somewhat broader and of 

 a somewhat purer white, are confined as a rule to the centre of 

 the back, though occasionally some of the longer scapulars are 

 also faintly edged with bluish white. In mimda the wing 

 varies from 3 "75 to 4*1; the bill at front, from 0"7 to 0'76; in 

 ^yy^i^a, the wing varies from about 3 "45 to 362; and the bill 

 0-6 to 0-62. 



A male of P. minuta was, length, 8*2; expanse, 12'5 ; tail 

 from vent, 2'25 ; and weighed 1*7 oz. In the males, the lower 

 surface is a grey bluCj in the females, a light rufous buff. 



