260 



EALLIDiE. 



Family, RALLID^. 



Bill compressed, short, pointed, thick, wedge-shaped; nostrils in 

 a short groove; legs stout; toes long; tarsi moderate; tail short. 



Sub-Family, GALLINULIN^— Watbe-Hens. 



Bill with the keel advancing on the forehead, where there is usually a 

 casque ; toes long and slender or bordered by a scolloped web ; wings 

 short and rounded ; hind toe long. 



Gen. Porphyrio. — Briss. 



Bill very thick ; casque large; mid -toe as long as tarsi, slender, not 

 fringed with web. 



Porphyrio poliocephalus. The Purple Coot. 



Porphyrio poliocephalus, Viell. K Diet. Hist. t. xxviii. p. 89; 

 Jerd. B. Ind. iii. p. 713; Str. F. ii. 432; iv. 20; vii. 18; Murray,, 

 Hdbh., Zool., §-c., Sijid, p, 222. Porphyrio- neglectus, Schleg. Mus. 

 Pars. B. p. 63. {Kaim, Sind.) — The Pdeple Coot. 



Occiput and nape, lores, and round the eyes greyish clouded with 

 purple ; cheeks, chin and throat the same, but with more of a purple 

 tinge ; neck in front and breast pale bluish ; lower bi'east, abdomen, 

 iianks, vent and thigh-coverts dark purplish blue ; under tail-coverts 

 white; back of neck, back, rump and upper tail-coverts purplish blue ; 

 scapulars, wing-coverts and outer webs of primaries pale greenish 

 blue, the inner webs of primaries, secondaries and tertials dark brown 

 or black ; tail black, the feathers on the outer web edged with bluish. 



