Genus PORPHYRIO. 



Bill large, rather short, very high at the base, much compressed or wedge-shaped ; the 

 culmen curved and produced back to the crown, covering the forehead with a shield. Nostrils 

 oval, oblique, placed well forward and near the culmen ; gonys deep and ascending. Wings 

 rather long; the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quills subequal and longest, and the 1st shorter than the 6th. 

 Tail short, about equal to the tarsus. Legs long ; tibia bare for more than the length of the 

 hind toe. Tarsus shielded before and behind with broad rectangular scales. Toes very long, 

 bordered by a narrow membrane, the middle one exceeding the tarsus, the outer much longer 

 than the inner ; claws stout and straight. 



Tongue large, fleshy, and horny at the tip. 



PORPHYRIO POLIOCEPHALUS, 



(THE INDIAN BLUE COOT.) 



Gallinula polioeephala, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl. p. 58' (1791). 



Porphyrio poliocephalus (Lath.), Vieill. Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat. torn, xxviii. p. 39 (1819) ; Gray, 



Gen. B. iii. p. 598 (1849) ; Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 283 (1849) ; Layard, Ann. 



& Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 268 ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. p. 713 (1864) ; Blyth, Ibis, 



1867, p. 171 ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 475 ; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 31, et 1875, p. 403 ; 



Blyth, B. Burmah, p. 161 (1875); Butler & Hume, Str. Feath. 1876, p. 20; Davison 



& Hume, ibid. 1878 (B. of Tenass.), p. 464; D. Elliot, ibid. 1878, vii. p. 22; Davidson 



& Wender, t. c. p. 89 ; Ball, t. c. p. 229 ; Cripps, t. c. p. 306 ; Hume, ibid. 1879 (List 



Ind. B.), p. 113. 

 Porphyrio smaragnotus, Sykes (Cat. B. Deccan), P. Z. S. 1832, p. 165 (nee Temm.). 

 Porphyrio neglectus, Schlegel, Mus. Pays-B. Balli, p. 53 (1865) ; Hume, Str. Feath. 1873, 



p. 249 ; Hume & Oates, ibid. 1875, p. 185 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, iii. p. 594 (1875). 

 Grey-headed Gallinule, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl. ii. p. 375 (1785); Purple Coot, Blue Coot, 



Sultana Coot, Bald Coot, of Europeans. Keim, Kaima, Kalim, Kharim, Hind. ; Kern, 



Bengal. ; Nila Bola-kodi, Telugu (Jerdon). 

 Kittala, Sinhalese (Layard) ; Indura-JcuJcula in Southern Province ; Sannary, Ceylonese 



Tamils (MacVicar). 



Adult male and female. Length 16"5 to 17"8 inches ; wing 9 - 8 to 10-2 ; tail 3 - 5 to 3'6 ; tarsus 3-2 to 3 - 7 ; middle 

 toe 3-5 to 4-0, its claw (straight) 0-85 to 1-0 ; hind toe 1"3 to 1-4, claw (straight) 09 ; bill to gape 1-45 to 1-5 : 

 casque with culmen 2 - 2 to 2 - 5 ; height of bill at base 0'95 to L05 ; width of casque - 87. 



Iris red ; bill and casque darker red, with dusky patches, chiefly on the sides ; legs and feet red, the joints of the 

 knees and toes blackish brown ; claws pale brown. 



Head, face, and throat greyish, tinged with bluish on the face and throat, and washed with brownish purple on the 

 nape and upper part and sides of the hind neck, passing into purplish violet on the lower part of the hind neck, 

 and thence into dark purplish blue on the back, scapulars, and rump ; tail blackish, edged on the outer webs of 

 the feathers with greenish blue ; wings sombre greenish blue, the lesser wing-coverts edged with a brighter hue, 

 the inner webs and the under surface of the quills black ; fore neck purplish grey, passing into lively greenish 

 blue on the chest ; breast, flanks, and abdomen dark blue ; thighs and under wing-coverts greenish blue, the greater 

 series of feathers blackish ; under tail-coverts white. 



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