GALLINULA JARDINII. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Inches. Lines. 
Length from the tip of the bill to the 
end of the tail 5 6 
of the bill from the angle of the 
mouth 0 
of the wings when folded 2 9 
of the tail 1 8 
Inches. Lines. 
Length of the tarsus 0 9 
of the inner toe 0 7 
of the outer toe 0 7| 
of the middle toe 0 9^ 
of the hinder toe 0 S 
Though I have never seen the female of this species, yet, from information 
I have received, I am disposed to believe she resembles the male in point 
of colours. 
This elegant little rail is but rarely obtained by collectors in South Africa. The figure here 
given is a representation of the only specimen I have ever procured, though I remember 
having once seen another in the possession of a dealer in Cape Town. It resorts to marshy 
grounds, or the vicinity of lakes, and is occasionally to be seen flitting about among the reeds, 
by which the lakes are generally margined. It also at times extends its peregrinations upon 
the aquatic plants which sometimes coat the surface of stagnant waters ; and while in such 
a position it appears actively engaged in feeding upon the aquatic insects which occur upon 
these plants. 
Should Alecthelia of Lesson prove a good groupe, and should the South African bird which 
Swainson has described under the name of Alecthelia lineata * belong to it, then the present 
species must stand as Alecthelia Jardinii, and that represented in Plate 20, as Alecthelia 
dimidiata. I believe Swainson’s bird to be the young of the latter. 
* Lardnor’s Cyclopaedia, Menageries, page 338. 
