Genus POKPHYKIO. 
Bill large, rather short, very high at the base, much compressed or wedge-shaped ; the 
culmen curved and produced back to the crown, covering the forehead with a shield. Nostrils 
oval, oblique, placed well forward and near the culmen ; gonys deep and ascending. Wings 
rather long ; the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quills subequal and longest, and the 1st shorter than the 6th. 
Tail short, about equal to the tarsus. Legs long ; tibia bare for more than the length of the 
hind toe. Tarsus shielded before and behind with broad rectangular scales. Toes very long, 
bordered by a narrow membrane, the middle one exceeding the tarsus, the outer much longer 
than the inner ; claws stout and straight. 
Tongue large, fleshy, and horny at the tip. 
PORPHYRIO POLIOCEPHALUS. 
(THE INDIAN BLUE COOT.) 
Gallinula poliocepliala, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl. p. 58 (1791). 
Porphyrio poliocephalus (Lath.), Vieill. Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat. tom. xxviii. p. 39 (1819) ; Gray, 
Gen. B. iii. p. 598 (1849); Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 283 (1849); Layard, Ann. 
& Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 268 ; Jerdon,B. of Ind. iii. p. 713 (1864); Blyth, Ibis, 
1867, p. 171 ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 475 ; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 31, et 1875, p. 403 ; 
Blyth, B. Burmah, p. 161 (1875); Butler & Hume, Str. Death. 1876, p. 20; Davison 
& Hume, ibid. 1878 (B. of Tenass.), p. 464; D. Elliot, ibid. 1878, vii. p. 22; Davidson 
& Wender, t. c. p. 89 ; Ball, t. c. p. 229 ; Cripps, t. c. p. 306 ; Hume, ibid. 1879 (List 
Ind. B.), p. 113. 
Porphyrio smaragnotus , Sykes (Cat. B. Deccan), P. Z. S. 1832, p. 165 (nec Temm.). 
Porphyrio neglectus, Schlegel, Mus. Pays-B. Ealli, p. 53 (1865) ; Hume, Str. Feath. 1873, 
p. 249 ; Hume & Oates, ibid. 1875, p. 185 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, iii. p. 594 (1875). 
Grey-headed Gallinule, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl. ii. p. 375 (1785); Purple Coot, Blue Coot, 
Sultana Coot, Bald Coot, of Europeans. Keim, Kaima, Kalim, Kharim, Hind. ; Kern, 
Bengal. ; Nila Bola-kodi, Telugu (Jerdon). 
Kitted a, Sinhalese (Layard) ; Indura-lculcula in Southern Province ; Sannavy, Ceylonese 
Tamils (MacVicar). 
Adult- male and female. Length 16-5 to 17-8 inches ; wing 9-8 to 10-2 ; tail 3-5 to 3' 6 ; tarsus 3-2 to 3-7; middle 
toe 3-5 to 4-0, its claw (straight) 0-85 to L0 ; hind toe 1-3 to 1-4, claw (straight) 09 ; bill to "ape 1-45 to 1-5 ; 
casque with culmen 2-2 to 2-5 ; height of bill at base 0-95 to 1-05 ; width of casque 0-87. 
Iris red ; bill and casque darker red, with dusky patches, chiefly on the sides ; legs and feet red, the ioints of the 
knees and toes blackish brown ; claws pale brown. 
Iliad, fate, and throat greyish, tinged with bluish on the face and throat, and washed with brownish purple on the 
nape and upper part and sides of the hind neck, passing into purplish violet on the lower part of the hind neck 
and thence into dark purplish blue on the back, scapulars, and rump ; tail blackish, edged on the outer webs of 
the feathers with greenish blue : wings sombre greenish blue, the lesser wing-coverts edged with a brighter hue 
the inner webs and the under surface of the quills black ; fore neck purplish grey, passing into lively "reenish 
blue on the chest ; breast, flanks, and abdomen dark blue ; thighs and under wing-coverts greenish blue theYreater 
series of feathers blackish ; under tail-coverts white. ’ ° 
5 K 
