188 MALAYAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



excepting the first primary, outer webs of second and third, and 

 borders round the ends of the secondaries, which are black ; wing- 

 feathers very lanceolate, the first primary has at its tip a peculiar 

 filament, the fourth is very attenuated and pointed ; wing-coverts 

 barred with grey. 



Porphyrio calvus (Vieill.). The Purple Coot. 



One afternoon, while Teal-shooting in Perak, I was wading 

 about a jheel overgrown with weeds and aquatic plants, among 

 which I shot a specimen, my only one, of this Coot. 



Its plumage reminded me much of Porphyrio cceruleus of Europe ; 

 but it is smaller than that bird, also its beak and legs are not of 

 such a bright red. It feeds principally on weeds and other green 

 substances. The stomach of the one I shot was very muscular, 

 and contained vegetable matter and a quantity of sand ; but possibly 

 they occasionally prey on the young of other birds, as their 

 relation, P. cceruleus, which I shot in Sicily, had there the 

 reputation of killing young wildfowl ; also, when visiting Mr. 

 Whampoa, a Chinese gentleman residing in Singapore, he showed 

 me a very handsome pair of these Coots in his garden, but said he 

 was obliged to confine them in a cage, as, when let loose, they 

 killed his chickens. 



My Perak specimen, a male, shot on 9th May, 1877, was 17 

 inches in length; neck, throat, and upper parts of the breast pale 

 greenish blue ; back of neck and the abdomen deep purple ; vent 

 freckled with grey ; under tail-coverts white ; wing-coverts light 

 blue ; legs, beak, and frontal plate dull red ; back and scapulars 

 dark brown tinged with green and blue. Soon after death the 

 beautiful blue of its plumage faded. 



There were two of these Purple Coots in the Botanical Gardens, 

 Singapore, also specimens in Raffles Museum. 



Gallicrex crtstata (Lath.). The Crested Water-cock. 



This Water-fowl is very plentiful, breeding among the j heels 

 and reedy swamps of Western Malaya. Personally I never 

 found a nest, but in Perak, during April, have shot males with 

 the red frontal plate, assumed only during the breeding-season, 

 fully developed. The following is from my note-book : — 



"Kualai Kangsa r Perakyo 1st March. 1877. This evening, in 



