Plate LVII. 





FULICA ARDESIACA. 





(TSCKUDI'S COOT). 





Fulica ardesiaca . . . Tscb. Faun. Per. Aves, p. 303. 



Scl. et Salv. P.Z.S. 1868, p. 464 

 Lysca ardesiaoea . . . Reich. Nat. Syst. p. xxi. 

 Fulica chilensis . . . Des Murs, in Gray's Fauna Chilena, viii., p. 474, Atlas, t. 10. 



Hartl. Journ. f. Orn. 1853, Extra-h. p. 81. 



Scl. P.Z.S. 1860, p. 82. 



Scl. et Salv. P.Z.S. 1868, p. 176. 



I 



Obscure schistacea : capite undique nigricante : flexura alari et remigis externi margine albis : crisso nigro 

 lateraliter albo mixto : clypeo frontali tuberositatem parallelogrammicam formante, a rostro linea impressa diviso : 

 pedibus obscure schistaceis : long, tota 16'5, alse 8*5, caudae 2*2, rostri a rictu 1*5, tarsi 2*6, dig. med. cum ungue 3"8. 



Hah. in Bolivia alta (UOrl. : Cast, et Dev.): in Peruvia occidentali (Tsch. et Whitely): rep. JEquator. (Fraser). 



The first satisfactory description of this Coot was given by Dr. Hartlaub in his excellent 

 article on the birds of the genus Fulica, published in the " Extra-Heft" of Cabanis' " Journal fur 

 Ornithologie 7 ' for 1853, under the name Fulica chilensis, taken from Des Murs' MS. We have, 

 however, ascertained by inspection of the type-specimen of Fulica ardesiaca, which has been 

 kindly lent to us by M. Coulon, of Neuchatel, that the same bird had been previously described 

 by Tschudi in his u Fauna Peruana/ 7 under the latter name. We, therefore, adopt Tschudi's 

 appellation for this species, although his description is irrecognizable, superseding the name 

 chilensis with less regret, inasmuch as it seems to be very doubtful whether the bird has ever 

 occurred in Chili. 



The present species belongs to the second section of the genus Fulica as arranged by Dr. 

 Hartlaub, in which the undertail-coverts are black with merely a slight white edging on each 

 side. In this respect it resembles its gigantic neighbours of the same country, F. gigantea and 

 F. cornuta. From the former it may be distinguished by its smaller size and olive-coloured 

 feet, from the latter by the absence of the prominent caruncle on the forehead. In the present 

 species, however, the head-shield projects considerably beyond the line of the culmen, and 



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