AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 329 



locally common enough in certain parts of N.W. 

 Africa and S. Europe, very rarely comes into the 

 hands of our English dealers in live birds ; on the 

 other hand, the following closely allied species, viz. 

 P. melanotiis from Australia, P. calvus and P. polio- 

 cephaliis from India and the Persian Gulf, Hydrornia 

 aUeni and P. madagascariensis from East and West 

 Africa, and P. smaragdonotus, above mentioned, from 

 Egypt, are frequently offered to me for sale from 

 London, Liverpool, and Antwerp. The present 

 species w^as formerly common in Southern and 

 Eastern Spain, and is by no means extinct in that 

 country or in Algeria, is not rare in the Island of 

 Sardinia, and very abundant in parts of Sicily ; whilst 

 I believe that I am correct in stating that none of 

 the other species above mentioned have been known 

 to breed in a wild state in any part of Europe. Erom 

 the comparative proximity of its haunts, therefore, 

 the occurrence of this Purple Gallinule in our Islands, 

 of its own free will, is at least more fvohable than 

 that of any of its congeners ; it is of a roving 

 disposition, and a good traveller in the air, on land, 

 and on the w^ater. I have not at hand the references 

 as to the number of well-authenticated occurrences 

 of this bird and the Green-backed Gallinule in our 

 Islands ; but both species have been recorded several 

 times ; and although I will not pretend to believe 

 that some of the former, and probably all of the 

 latter, were not "escapes" from captivity, I must 

 confess that I can see no valid reason for excluding 

 the Purple Gallinule from the British list, at all 

 events whilst the Flamingo and many others are 

 admitted to rank therein. 



The present species scarcely differs in habits and 



