GALLINULE. 41-3 



21 —RED-TAILED GALLINULE. 



Gallinula phoenicura, Ind. Om. ii. 770. 



Rallus phoenicurus, Ind. Zool. p. 19. t. 9. Gm. Lin.'i. 715. 

 Red-tailed Water Hen, Ind. Zool. p. 10. t. 9. Id. 4to. p. 49. pi. 12. 

 Red-tailed Gallinule, Gen. Syn. v. 259. 



LENGTH nine inches ; weight seven ounces and a quarter. Bill 

 yellowish green, base reddish; forehead bare, flesh-coloured; plumage 

 above black; forehead, round the eyes, and under parts, white; 

 quills black, marked with large bluish spots; vent and under tail 

 coverts ferruginous red ; legs dirty green, tinged with red; toes long. 



Inhabits Ceylon, is there common, and call Kalu-kerenaka; is 

 often figured in Chinese paintings, as well as those done in India. 



A.— La Poule-Sultane brune, Buf. viii. 204. PL enl. 896. 

 Red-tailed Gallinule, Gen. Syn. v. 259. 13. Var. A. 



Length fifteen or sixteen inches. Crown and upper parts of the 

 plumage dusky ash-colour; forehead and under parts white; belly 

 and vent rufous ; quills and tail black ; legs yellow ; toes long. 



Inhabits China. — One in General Hardwicke's drawings called 

 Bodeh. 



B. — Gallinula phoenicura, Ind. Om. ii. 771. 14. y. 

 Red-tailed Water-Hen, Gen. Syn. v. 260. 13. B. 



In this the crown, and all the upper parts of the plumage, quills 

 and tail are of a full glossy black ; the forehead and under parts, as 

 far as the vent, white ; the last red ; legs slender, yellow ; toes long. 



Inhabits various parts of India ; is called at Bengal, Dahuc, and 

 Dauc, and is said sometimes to be twelve inches in length. Is found 

 at Calcutta all the year, among long grass and weeds, on the banks 

 of ditches and ponds, in pairs ; breeds in the rainy season, and lives 



