302 



According to Colonel Irby, the present species feeds entirely on vegetable substances; for 

 he says that the gizzards of all those he examined contained nothing but vegetable matter 

 (grass, seeds of rushes, &c.) with a good deal of coarse gravel; but it is stated to suck the eggs 

 of other species and also to destroy young birds. Mr. O. Salvin writes (Ibis, 1859, p. 361) as 

 follows : — " It is, I believe, in the habit of destroying the Ducks' nests whenever it can get an 

 opportunity. Many a time did we leave a nest for the satisfactory determination of the species 

 to which it belonged, and return to find every egg broken and sucked out. It may be calumny 

 to ascribe these depredations to P. hyacinthinus ; but I strongly suspect the charge is not 

 unfounded." Canon Tristram also states that when in Algeria he saw one in the yard of General 

 Ussuf seize a young duckling in its huge foot and crush its head with its bill, after which it ate 

 the brains, and left the rest of the carcass untouched. 



The specimen figured, on the same Plate with Porphyrio smaragdonotus, is the adult bird 

 above described, and is in my own collection. 



In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens : — 



E Mus. H. E. Dresser. 



a, $ . Andalucia, Spain (H. Saunders), b. Near Seville, Spain [Llanos), c, 6. Casa Vieja, Southern Spain, 

 October 28th, 1871 {Colonel Irby). 



E Mus. Howard Saunders. 



a, $ . Playa de la Resina, Andalucia, from nest with three eggs, April 24th, 1868 (H. S.). b, $ . Near Seville, 

 May 1870. c, 6 . Seville, October, d, 6. Albufera de Valencia, September, e, ? juv. Near Seville, 

 June 24th, 1869. 



