Genus— P OEPHYRIO. 
PoRPHYRio Bonnaterre, Tabl. Ency. Meth. Orn., Vol. I., 
p. xciv. (1790) . . . . . . . . . . , , p, porphyrio. 
Cmsarornis Reichenbach, Nat. Syst. Vog., p. xxi. (1852) P. poUocephalus. 
(Also spelt Cesarornis.) 
lonornis, id., ih. 
Glaucestes, id., ib. 
PorpJiyrula Blytb, Cat. Birds Mus. As. Soc., p. 283 (1852) 
(Also spelt PorpTiyriola.) 
Hydrionia Bonaparte, Compt. Rend., XLIII., p. 599 (1856) 
(Also spelt Hydrornia.) 
Jonocicca Salvadori, Ann. Mus. Civ. Gen. (2), III., p. 236 (1887) 
P. martinica. 
P. flavirostris. 
P. alleni. 
P. alleni. 
P. alleni. 
Birds generally larger than the species of Gallinula, with a short, high, and 
strongly curved, compressed bill, and the frontal shield very large. Nostrils 
oval or rounded, pervious ; no nasal groove, but a shallow depression only. 
Wings short and rounded ; toes very long, the middle toe with claw exceeding 
the tarsus in length ; no lateral membranes or lobes to the toes. About 
twenty-five forms are referable to the genus. 
Distribution. Almost cosmopolitan. 
