Birds of Celebes: Rallidae. 723 



cr. Fulica lugubris (1) S. Mull, Verh. Natuurk. Comm. 1839—44, 454; (2) W. Bias., J. f. 0. 



1883, 140; (3) Vorderm., N. T. Ned. Ind. 1886, XLVI, 239; (4) id., ib. 1890, 



XLIX, 416. 

 b. Fulica atra japonica (I) Temm. & Schl, Faun. Jap. Av. 1850, 120, pi. LXXVII. 

 e. Gallinula lugubris (1) Rosenb., Zool. Garten 1881, 167; ?(2) Platen, Gef. Welt 1887, 206. 

 For full synonymy and references cf. Sharpe 27, Taczanowski 26. 

 Figures and descriptions. Naumann III; Gould IV; Dresser XI; Meyer JTF (skeleton); 



Schlegel 5; David & Oustalet .9; Gates 7.3; Sharpe 27; etc., etc. 

 Adult. Dark .slaty, blackish on head, face, neck, and under tail-coverts, palest on under-parts; 



secondaries whitish at tip; frontal shield nearly white; toes with side-flaps; "legs 



bluish grey, the bare part of the tibia orange; iris deep red" (Dresser); wing 



205 mm; tail ca. 60; tarsus 56; middle toe with claw 83; bill from lores 30 (ad.. 



Saxony — Nr. 14162). 

 Female. "Resembles the male, but is smaller, and the colours of the plumage are less pure 



in tint" (Dresser XI). 

 Young. "Much browner than the adult, the feathers of the head dusky blackish edged with 



white; lores, eyebrows and sides of face white; under surface of body ashy whitish, 



browner on the flanks" (Sharpe 27). 

 Chick. "Covered with close hair-hke slaty black down tipped with wliite; frontal membrane 



red; bill red at the base, and white towards the tip; legs dull lead-grey; u-is brownish 



yellow" (Dresser XI). 

 Egg. Pink-buff, minutely speckled and sparsely spotted with brownish black, pale spots faintly 



intermingled: 54.5 X 35 mm ca. (Saxony, Dresd. Mus.j. 



Nest. Large, of rushes and the like built up in the water among reeds, etc. (see, also, Hume 



16, Dresser XI, etc.). 

 Distribution. Europe; N. Africa; Asia: India — all suitable parts (Hume etc. 16); Burmah 



(Gates 13); Tenasserim (Davison 10); S. E. Siberia (Pallas, Dybowski etc. 26); 



Manchuria (David 9); China (David 9, Swinh. 27, etc.); Japan (Blakiston 17); 



Loochoo Is. (Pryer 17). Phihppines — Luzon (Maitl.-Heriot 27); North Celebes — 



Gorontalo Distr. (v. Rosenberg el); ?Borneo (Vorderm. a 3); Sumatra (Vorderm. 



a 4); Java (S. Miiller a 1, 5). 



Rosenberg (c J) puts down eleven examples of Gallinula lugubris as 

 having been obtained by him on Lake Limbotto. This name is also a synonym 

 oi Gallicrex cinerea (Gm. — fide Sharpe), a species ranging from India to Java, 

 Borneo and the Philippines, but the G. lugubris of v. Rosenberg would appear 

 to be the Common Coot, since Professor W^. Blasius was able to confirm its 

 occurrence in Celebes from an example in the second "Schneider" collection 

 examined by him, said to be of certain Celebes origin. This may have been 

 one of V. Rosenberg's examples; Prof. Cabanis' specimen with the notched 

 stiffening-stick in the Berlin Museum, mentioned by Blasius, may better have 

 come from Meyer, who taught the natives there this method of indicating 

 the cf sex. Further confirmation of the occurrence of this bird in Celebes is 

 desirable. 



The Coot is most likely a migrant to Celebes Such it is in North and 

 Central Europe, where the large reed-ponds it frequents get frozen over in 

 winter. At this time it makes its appearance in South Europe in greatly 



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