Birds of Celebes; Rallidae. 
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a. Fulica lugubris (1) S. Mlill., Verb. Natuiirk. Comm. 1839—44, 454; (2) W. Elas., J. f. 0. 
1883, 140; (S) Vorderm., N. T. Ned. Ind. 1886, XLYI, 239; (4) id., ib. 1890, 
XLIX, 416. 
b. Fulica atra japonica (1) Temm. & Schl., Faun. Jap. Av. 1850, 120, pi. LXXVH. 
c. Gallinula lugubris (1) Rosenb., Zool. Glarten 1881, 167; '?(2) Platen, Gef. Welt 1887, 206. 
For full synonymy and references cf. Sbarpe 27, Taczanowski 26. 
Figures and descriptions. Naumann IZI; Gould 7F; Dresser X7; Meyer XF (skeleton); 
Sclilegel 5; David & Oustalet 5; Oates 13\ Sharpe 27; etc., etc. 
Adult. Dark slaty, blackish on head, face, neck, and under tail-coverts, palest on under-parts; 
secondaries -whitish at tip; frontal shield nearly white; toes with side-flaps; “legs 
bluish grey, the bare part of the tibia orange; iris deep red” (Dresser); wing 
205 mm; tail ca. 60; tarsus 56; middle toe with claw 83; bill from lores 30 (ad., 
Saxony — Nr. 14162). 
Female. “Resembles the male, but is smaller, and the colours of the plumage are less pure 
in tint” (Dresser XI). 
Young. “Much browner than the adult, the feathers of the head dusky blackish edged with 
white; lores, eyebrows and sides of face white; under surface of body ashy whitish, 
browner on the flanks” (Sharpe 27). 
Chick. “Covered with close hair-like slaty black do-wn tipped with white; frontal membrane 
red; bill red at the base, and white towards the tip; legs dull lead-grey; iris brownish 
yellow” (Dresser XI]. 
Egg. Pink-buff, minutely speckled and sparsely spotted with brownish black, pale spots faintly 
intermingled: 54.5 X 35 mm ca. (Saxony, Dresd. Mus.). < 
Nest. Large, of rushes and the like built up in the water among reeds, etc. (see, also, Hume 
16, Dresser XI, etc.). 
Distribution. Europe; N. Africa; Asia; India — all smtable parts (Hume etc. 16); Burmah 
(Oates 13); Tenasserim (Davison 10); S. E. Siberia (Pallas, Dybowski etc. 26); 
Manchuria (David 9); China (David 9, Swinh. 27, etc.); Japan (Blakiston 17); 
Loochoo Is. (Pryer 77). Philippines — Luzon (Maitl.-Heriot 27); North Celebes — 
Gorontalo Distr. (v. Rosenberg c7); ?Borneo (Vorderm. a 3); Sumatra (Vorderm. 
a 4); Java (S. Miiller a 1, 5). 
Rosenberg (cl) pnts down eleven examples of Gallinula lugubris as 
having been obtained by him on Lake Limbotto. This name is also a synonym 
of Gallicrex cinerea (Gm. — fide Sharpe), a species ranging from India to Java, 
Borneo and the Philippines, but the G. lugubris of v. Rosenberg would appear 
to be the Common Coot, since Professor W. Blasius was able to confirm its 
occurrence in Celebes from an example in the second “Schneider” collection 
examined by him, said to be of certain Celebes origin. This may have been 
one of V. Rosenberg’s examples; Prof. Cabanis’ specimen with the notched 
stiffening-stick in the Berlin Museum, mentioned by Blasius, may better have 
come from Meyer, who taught the natives there this method of indicating 
the c? sex. Further confirmation of the occurrence of this biid in Celebes is 
desirable. 
The Coot is most likely a migrant to Celebes. Such it is in North and 
Central Europe, where the large reed-ponds it frequents get frozen over in 
winter. At this time it makes its appearance in South Europe in greatly 
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