GREEN-BACKED GALLINULE 
Porphyrio Madagascariensis 
Arabic, Digmeh 
Whole plumage ultramarine blue shading into black, and 
on the back shading into bluish-green; white under-tail ; 
frontal and bill blood-red, as are legs and feet ; claws black ; 
eye, deep crimson-brown. ‘Total length, 18 inches. 
WE have included this bird, as it is perhaps as 
handsome as any in all Egypt, but it may be 
questioned whether many of our readers will come 
across it, for it lives in dense reed beds which grow 
in the large lakes of the Delta and Fayoom, and 
rarely quits them for the waters of the Nile. Our 
own Waterhen, or Moorhen, is a sort of near 
cousin of this bird, but whereas our bird always 
gives the impression of being animated and cheery, 
this Egyptian Gallinule somehow looks depressed 
in spite of its brilliant plumage ; and when it walks, 
it does so with no indecent haste, but slowly lifts 
one leg whilst the long toes hang loosely, and then 
gently places it down on the ground, all the while 
holding its head and body nearly perpendicularly, 
whilst, when not taking this strenuous exercise, it 
168 
