BIRDS OF NEW ZEALAND. 45 



feathered three parts down. Frontal plate going to back of the eye, as 

 usual in this genus ; hind toe relatively longer than in Notornis. Claws 

 short and curved. Body lighter than in Notornis • figure quite different. 

 Wings longer than in Notornis, sharp, and feathers pointed. Primaries 

 nearly 2 inches longer than secondaries, hard. Apparently a bird of good 

 flight. On bend of wing, concealed by feathers, a sharp spur. Differs from 

 Gallinula, in which the wing-spur is sometimes found as a knob only. 



Colour : indications of first dress being brown or black, perhaps 

 second dress blue, third dress white ; but all these uncertain. 



Now in Liverpool Museum, formerly in Lord Derby's Museum, first 

 in Bullock's Museum. 



The present example is probably a young bird. 



Description of the Plate. 



As it is commonly impossible to tell the colour of the soft parts, legs, 

 beak, &c. from a faded skin (from w^hich this Plate was taken), these are not 

 to be regarded as of any authority in the present illustration*. The bill is so 

 badly broken in both mandibles that it would have looked an absurdity to 

 copy it ; therefore this has been drawn as it is supposed it should be. There 

 are some brown feathers on the occiput ; and it appears quite a young bird. 

 The legs were in a very soft condition and swollen when the bird was killed 

 and skinned, there being several folds in, and air-spaces under, the skin of the 

 tarsus. It seems to have lost its original colour by moulting. When placed 

 in a good clear light, the entire plumage appears to be yellowish white ; but 

 the parts most turned away from the light present a beautiful bluish gloss : a 

 reflection is much enhanced by placing a sheet of white paper under it as a 

 reflector ; then the so coloured parts assume a brilliancy almost equal to 

 phosphoric light, like mother-of-pearl. On the right side of the head are 



* Dr. Buller says, in the Birds of New Zealand, of Porphyrio melanotus, p. 186 : — " The colours 

 of the bill and legs are regulated by conditions of age and sex ; but they likewise differ somewhat 

 in richness in individual examples of the male." 



H 2 



