Plate LYII. 



FULIGA ARDE8IACA. 



(TSCEUDI'S COOT). 



■Fulica ardesiaca . . . TscB. Faun. Per. Aves, p. 303. 



Scl. et Salr. P.Z.S. June 25th, 1868. 

 Lysea ardesiaca . . . Eeicli. Nat. Syst. p. xxi. 



Fuliea chilensis . . . Des Murs, in Gay's Fauna Chilena, t. 10. 



Hartl. Journ. f. Om. 1853, Extra-h. p. 81. 



Scl. P.Z.S. 1860, p. 82. 



Scl. et Salv. P.Z.S. 1868, p. 176. 



Obscure schistacea : capita undique nigricante : flexura alari et remigis externi margine albis : crisso nigro 

 lateraliter albo mixto : clypeo frontali tuberositatem parallelogrammicam formante, a rostro linea impreasa diviso : 

 pedibus obscure schistaceis : long, tota 16'5, als3 8'5, caudae 2'2, rostri a rictu 1"5, tarsi 2'6, dig. med. cum ungue 3"8. 



Hob. in Bolivia alta (D'Orh. et Cast, and Dev.): inPeruvia occidentali {Tsch. et Whitely): rep. Equator. (Fraser). 



Tlie first satisfactory description of this Coot was given by Dr. Hartlaub in his excellent 

 article on the birds of the genus Fuliea^ published in the " Extra- Heft" of Cabanis' " Journal fur 

 Omithologie" for 1853, under the name Fuliea chilensis^ taken from Des Murs' MS. We have, 

 however, ascertained by inspection of the-type specimen of Fuliea ardesiaca^ which has kindly 

 been loaned to us by M. Coulon, of Neuchatel, that the same bird had been previously described 

 by Tschudi in his " Fauna Peruana," under the latter name. We, therefore, adopt Tschudi's 

 appellation for this species, althoxigh his description is irrecognizable, superseding the name 

 chilensis with less regret, inasmuch as it seems to be very doubtful whether the bird has ever 

 occurred in Chili. 



The present species belongs to the second section of the genus Fuliea, as arranged by Dr. 

 Hartlaub, in which the undertail-coverts are black with merely a slight white edging on each 

 side. In this respect it resembles its gigantic neighbours of the same country, F. gigantea and 

 F. eornuta. From the former it may be distinguished by its smaller size and olive-coloured 

 feet, from the latter by the absence of the prominent caruncle on the forehead. In the present 

 species, however, the head-shield projects considerably beyond the line of the culmen, and 



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