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In habits the present species closely resembles P. veterum. Von Heuglin says that it 

 frequents the flooded rice-fields in pairs, or else is found in dense high reeds, where, however, 

 there are open places here and there ; but it is quite indifferent as to whether the water is fresh 

 or brackish. Each pair has its own special district, where they brook no intruder. During the 

 daytime it is usually found in the dense thickets of aquatic herbage, where it either rests, 

 usually standing on one foot, or else moves about in search of its food, which consists of cereals, 

 seeds of various sorts, especially of aquatic plants, shoots of grasses, water-insects, snails, and 

 frogs ; and it also feeds largely on the eggs of other birds. When moving about, its carriage is 

 erect, and it frequently jerks its head and tail. It walks slowly with measured steps, the long 

 toes being held carelessly drooped downwards ; and it glides through the dense masses of aquatic 

 herbage, and climbs about amongst them, with ease and elegance. Its flight resembles that of the 

 Waterhen, being short, low, direct, and fluttering, and, as it rises, noisy. It swims well, and 

 early in the morning and in the dusk of the evening is generally seen in open places on the 

 water ; but at the least sign of danger it takes refuge amongst the dense reeds. During the 

 night its loud, somewhat deep, clarinet-like note is frequently heard. Mr. Ayres also writes 

 respecting this species (I. c.) as follows : — " These birds generally remain amongst the high 

 rushes and reeds ; but during the winter, in the mornings and evenings, they often leave their 

 cover to catch the first and last rays of the sun, and they are then frequently to be found perched 

 on a clump of rushes or reeds; they make many extraordinary noises, most unmusical and quaint. 

 Their food consists of the inner and soft parts of the shoots of reeds and of other water-plants ; 

 these may be found in their stomachs chopped up like chaff by their powerful bills, which no 

 doubt are expressly provided for peeling off the outer bark and hard parts of the plants they 

 feed upon." I am indebted to Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., for the following notes : — " When the sun 

 has reached its meridian this Porphyria stalks slowly out of the waving reeds ; or sometimes in 

 the cool of the early morning his dark form is seen for an instant pressing the covert as he 

 betakes himself to its friendly shelter, not with an undignified haste, but with a slow and steady 

 gait, which bends the tall reeds as he passes between them. Not often can he be roused into 

 greater activity, knowing well what an easy mark his great body presents. Seldom have I seen 

 one quit the safe mud to risk even a short flight of a few yards ; and never that I remember, 

 though doubtless able to swim, did one trust himself to the water; but in the morning or at 

 midday, solemnly marching over the scarce-covered shallows, they seek their aquatic food, like a 

 great overgrown hen, and yet with no ungraceful bending of the body, usually venturing to about 

 twenty paces distance from the reeds of safety, seldom more. I have seen it sitting silent and 

 solitary at the great lake near Cairo, the lake of the Fayoom, where it receives the waters of 

 the canal Bar-Joseph. It may be found on the opposite shore, though I never saw it there; 

 but the oppressive heat we had in June, when the thermometer stood at 100°, was a check to 

 collecting, and our searches on the great lake were so limited that these birds may easily have 

 been in that dense fringe of water-jungle without our knowing it. Should any future collectors 

 visit the province of Fayoom a sharp look-out should be kept for the Purple-backed Porphyrio, 

 the allied species of Europe, whose presence in the land of Ham, asserted more than once, still 

 needs corroboration. That it should occur there is not unlikely ; but of the six specimens which 

 I have examined, five had unmistakably green backs, and the sixth, which was alive in a backyard 



