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FULICA CKISTATA. 



(CRESTED COOT.) 



La grande Foulqite a Crete, Buff. Hist. Nat. Ois. viii. p. 222 (1781). 

 Fulica cristata, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 704 (1788). 

 Fulica mitrata, Licht. Nomencl. Av. p. 97 (1854). 

 Lupha cristata, Reich. Natiirl. Syst. taf. 187. fig. 1090. 



Figura? notabiles. 

 D'Aubenton, PI. Enl. 797; Naumannia, 1856, pi. 2; Bree, B. of Europe, pi. to p. 83. 



Ad. Fulica atrce similis sed alis haud albido terminatis, crista in elypeo supremo duplica incamato-rubra, iride 

 castaneo-rubra, : rostro et pedibus sicut in Fulica atrd coloratis. 



Adult Female (Lake Halloula, Algeria, May 1856). Entire head and neck sooty black ; upper parts generally 

 slaty black ; wings and tail brownish black, without any white on them ; underparts paler than the 

 upper parts, being more of a dark greyish slate; beak and frontal shield white, the latter terminating 

 in two conspicuous red knobs ; legs ashy white ; iris reddish brown. Total length about 16 inches, 

 culmen 1*3, gape 1*4, wing 8'0, tail 2'6, tarsus 2"55. 



Adult Male (Natal). Does not differ from the female above described, except that the frontal knobs are, 

 perhaps, a little smaller. 



Young (Malaga) . Much paler than the adult ; the feathers on the underparts are tipped with greyish, as are 

 also those on the chin and neck ; the frontal shield is but little developed, the knobs are very small ; 

 and the bill is evidently dark in colour, and not white. 



More especially an African bird, being found in suitable localities almost throughout that 

 continent, the Crested Coot is to be met with but rarely north of the Mediterranean. It is 

 recorded by Professor Barboza du Bocage as found in Portugal, where, though less abundant 

 than Fulica atra, it is well known ; and it occurs also in Spain. I have seen specimens obtained 

 at the Albufera, near Valencia; and Mr. Howard Saunders, who states (Ibis, 1871, p. 225) that 

 it appears there in winter, adds that it breeds in the " marisma " near Madre del Rocio, in 

 Andalucia, where he saw it and obtained identified eggs. According to Colonel Irby it doubt- 

 less occurs further east than Andalucia ; for he saw specimens at Granada marked as Spanish. 

 M. Degland remarks (Orn. Eur. ii. p. 283) that one was killed early in 1841 on the marsh of 

 Marignan, near Marseilles, and is, or was, in the collection of M. Montvalon, jun. 



Mr. A. von Homeyer found it breeding in the Balearic Isles, where, he says, it is less 

 numerous than the Purple Gallinule. He saw several stuffed specimens, which the owners 

 seemed to value but little; and on the 15th of May he observed several quite young birds with 

 the old female, and had au opportunity of watching the former quite closely. 



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