POEPHYRIO POLIOCEPHALUS. 



(INDIAN GALLINULE.) 



Porphyrio veterum, S. G. Gmelin, Reise Russl. iii. p. 79, footnote, pi. 12 (1774). 



Gallinula poliocephala, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl. p. lxviii (1801). 



Grey-headed Gallinule, Lath. Gen. Synops. Suppl. ii. p. 375 (1802). 



Fulica porphyrio, Pall. Zoogr. Ross. -As. ii. p. 156 (1811). 



Porphyrio poliocephalus (Lath.), Vieill. Nouv. Diet, xxviii. p. 30 (1819). 



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



Porphyrio hyacinthinus (nee Temm.), Nordm. in Demidoffs Voy. Russ. Merid. iii. p. 275 



(1840). 

 Porphyrio indicus (nee Horsf.), Gray, List Grallse &c. Brit. Mus. p. 120 (1844). 

 Porphyrio neglectus, Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Balli, p. 53 (1865). 

 Porphyrio cceruleus (nee Vandelli), Seebohm, Ibis, 1882, p. 227. 

 Poiyhyrio veterum, Radde, Orn. Cauc. p. 380, pi. xxi. figs. 3, 4 (eggs), pi. xxiv. s (1884). 



Sultanka, Russian ; Bojachana, Tartar [Radde) ; Keim, Kaima, Kalim, Kharim, Hindo- 

 stanee ; Kern, Bengalee ; Nila Bola-kodi, Telugu (Jerdon) ; Kittala, Sinhalese [Layard) ; 

 Indura-Jcukula, in Southern Province ; Sannary, Ceylonese Tamils (McVicar). 



Figura unica. 

 Radde, Orn. Cauc. Taf. xxiv. 



Ad. saturate ultramarino-csruleus, alis viridi tinctis : caudi nigra, rectricibus in pogonio externo saturate 

 cseruleo tinctis : pileo caerulescenti-cinereo : capitis lateribus cinerescentibus et collo cinereo lavato : 

 pectore viridi-caeruleo lavato, hypochondriis magis cseruleis : subcaudalibus albis : rostro et scutello 

 frontali saturate rubris : pedibus incarnato-rubris : iride rubr&. 



Adult Male (Lenkoran, January 16th). Upper parts generally rich deep blue, the wings slightly washed 

 with greenish ; tail black, the feathers externally washed with blue ; crown ashy blue ; sides of the 

 head ashy, and the neck tinged with ashy grey ; underparts deep blue, the breast tinged with greenish 

 blue ; the flanks bright blue ; under tail-coverts white : bill and frontal shield dark red ; legs and feet 

 red, the joints of the knees and toes blackish brown ; iris red. Total length about 17"5 inches, culmen 

 with frontal shield 2 - 85, wing 11*0, tail 4*25, tarsus 4"0o. 



Adult female (Lenkoran, January). Does not differ from the male in plumage. Total length about 16 - 

 inches, culmen with shield 2 - 75, wing 10 - 7, tail 4 - 2, tarsus 3'80. 



Young (bird of the year, fide Col. Legge). Face, throat, and neck more tinged with green than in the 

 adult; the back of the neck and head brownish, with the feathers here and there tipped with greyish; 

 the back and wings sombre greenish blue, passing into brown on the rump and upper tail-coverts, the 

 feathers with pale tips; the greenish-blue chest-feathers are likewise pale tipped, and the blue on the 

 under surface is not so pure as in the adult, with the edges of the feathers greyish ; thighs cinereous 



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