132 FULICA. 



107. Porphyrio poliocephalus. The Purple Moorhen. 



Keim, Kharim, India; Kem, Bengal; Nila bolakodi (Telugu) ; Sannary, Ceylon. 



$ 18" to 19". Legs brick-red, joints darkened. Bill red, with spot. Mid toe 

 and claw 4-65". Wing-coverts pale blue. Breast pure blue. Under-tail white. 

 Caucasus to Mesopotamia, Afghanistan, India, Ceylon, Burma. Six to eight eggs 

 (1-93 X 1-39), pale pink, spotted red and purple. (J. 902. B. 1404.) See 

 illustration, p. 131. 



Also P. pajliatus. Range unknown. 



P. ccerulescens. Formerly in Reunion. 



F. maclcintoshi. Extinct species from New Zealand. 



P. cceruleus. 16". Mid toe and claw 4-9". From Mediterranean countries. 



P. porphyrio. 16". Mid toe and claw 4-6". From Africa. 



P. bevimeleni. From Sumatra. 



P. calims. 15i". Mid toe and claw 3-8". Java to S. Celebes. 



P. edwardsi. 18". Mid toe and claw 4-35". Cochin China to Malay Peninsula. 



P. ellioti. 1.5 J". Mid toe and claw 4". From Admiralty Islands. 



P. bellus. 17i". Mid toe and claw 4-6". From W. Australia. 



P. chathamensis. 17". Mid toe and claw 3-8". From Chatham Islands. 



P. smaragdimits. 15". Mid toe and claw 3-8". N. Celebes to Fiji and Friendly Islands. 



P. samoensis. 13i". Mid toe and claw 3-7". Samoan Islands. 



P. melanonotus, 16", mid toe and claw 4-5", from Australia and Tasmania, New Zealand and 

 New Guinea ; with one subspecies — P. pelewensis, 16", mid toe and claw 41", from Pelew Islands. 



P. pulverulenius. 15". Mid toe and claw 4-2". From the Philippines. 



Also the genus Notomis. One species. Without power of flight. Wing-coverts elongated. 

 N. mantelli, 20", mid toe and claw 3-7"; and one species, N. alba, now extinct, from Norfolk 

 Island; 



Also the genus Aptomis, now extinct, from New Zealand. Two species — A. otidiformis 

 from North Island and A. defossor from South Island. 



Genus FULICA. 

 Fulica=a, Coot, in classical Latin ; akin to ^aX-aK/)6s= bald-headed. 

 Bill with shield on forehead. Toes lobed and clear to base. Tarsus with 

 membranous fringe behind. Second and third quills longest. Eemiges twenty- 

 five. Secondaries as long as primaries. Plumage dark grey or blackish. Sexes 

 alike. 



108. Fulica atra. The Coot. 

 Atra=h1aak. 

 Dasari, India; Bara godhan, Pumeah; Boli kodi (Telugu). 



^ 14J" to 16". Legs with three garters. Mid toe and claw 3-85". Bill white. 

 Head, neck, and under tail-coverts deep black. Above blackish, tinged blue. 

 Under parts ashy. — In Young : Under parts grey, with white tips to secondaries. 

 Europe, Asia, Japan, and the Philippines, India (not observed in Ceylon), Burma, 

 and the Malayan Archipelago as far as Java. Seven to twelve eggs (1-98 x 1-4), 

 grey, speckled with black. (J. 903. B. 1405.) See illustration, p. 133. 



Also F. eristata. 16". Mid toe and claw 4-2". Outer secondaries without white tips. 

 Frontal shield corrugated. Africa. 



F. australis. 14". Mid toe and claw 3-4". With frontal shield smooth. From Australia 

 and Tasmania. 



Secondaries with white tips. Under tail-coverts white. 

 Five species from S. America. 



F. cornuta. 19". Frontal shield with caruncles. 



F. ardesiaca. 16". Mid toe and claw 4". Frontal shield plain and rounded. 



F. armillata. 18". Mid toe and claw 4". Frontal shield pointed. 



F. leucopyga. 14". Mid toe and claw 3-4". First primary plain. 



F. gigarUea. 20". Mid toe and claw 5J". Toes dark red. 



