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GALLINULA PHGENICURA.
White-breasted Waterhen.

Rallus phenicurus, Penn. Ind. Zool., p. 19, pl. 9.—Gmel. edit. Linn
Gallinula phenicura, Lath. Ind. Orn., tom. ii. p: 770.—Jerd. Birds |
1863, p. 427; 1870, p. 364.—Id. Proc. Zool. Soc.
Birds, vol. iii. p. 599, Gallinula, sp. 5.

Red-tailed Waterhen, Penn. Ind. Zool., p. 10, pl. 9; ibid. 4to p. 49, pl. 12

Red-tailed Gallinule, Lath. ; ii 7
p. 413. pe ne sol ps 770d. Gen. Syn) ol, , p, a6 mH Gen. Hist., vol. ix.
Gallinula javanica, Horsf. Linn. Trans. vol. xiii. ». 196.—
Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., fe Te on — Bhi Te
erythrina, Bechst.
Fulica chinensis, Bodd.
La Poule Sultane brune, Buff. Hist. des Ois., tom. viii. p. 204.—Pl. Enl. 896.
Porzana phenicura, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta. p. 284.—Swinh. Ibis, 1860, p. 67: 1861
p- 57.—Itby, Ibis, 1861, p. 246.—Schomb. Ibis, 1864, p. 261.—Blyth, Ibis, 1867 . iL. ieee
Gallinula (Erythra) phenicura, Gray, Hand-list of Birds, part iii. p. 67. ie .
Erythra phenicura, Bonap. Compt. Rend. de l’Acad. Sci., tom. xliii. 1856, p.
Dawak, Dahak, or Dauk, Hind.; Boli-kodi, Telugu; Kureyn, of Gonds ; Kurayi, in Scinde. (Jerdon.)
Karawaka, Cinghalese ; Khaloo-gwet, Aracan ; Roa-Roa, Malay; Tri-bombo, Javan. (Blyth. ) ;

Syst. Nat., tom. i. Dealoe
of India, vol. ii, p

art il. p. 720.—Swinh. Ibis
1863, p. 321; : aan

Utsid/Ily 10), 414.—Gray & Mitch. Gen. of

 

Specimens of this Gallinule having lived for some time in the Zoological Society’s Menagerie in the Regent’s’

Park, I was not neglectful of the opportunity thus afforded me of noting the colouring of the soft parts during
life, nor of making the drawing on the opposite Plate from a very clean and well-feathered example imme-
diately after death. Of such opportunities advantage should always be taken, as they may lead to many in-
teresting results ; in the present instance a slight discrepancy has thus been detected between the colouring
of the soft parts as represented by me from life and their description by Dr. Jerdon, who states that the
irides are blood-red and the legs green, while in the living birds at the Gardens the former were brownish red
and the latter wax-yellow: confinement, it is true, may have affected the colouring of the irides and legs, or
it may be that those parts are heightened or of a different tint at different seasons.

That this bird is not a true Gallinule I freely admit ; and any one writing a Monograph of the Gallinuline
would classify the White-breasted Waterhen, with the species I have figured in the ‘Supplement’ to the
‘Birds of Australia’ under the name of Gallinula ruficrissa, another from Timor, and perhaps some others,
as a distinct form—which, indeed, has been done by the late Dr. Reichenbach, with the generic appellation of
Exythra, the propriety of such a separation being confirmed when we regard the difference in the habits of
these long-tarsed and short-toed birds, which are far less aquatic than those of the typical Gallinule, of which
our Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) is a prominent example.

Dr. Jerdon, speaking of the bird as observed by him in India, says :—

“The White-breasted Waterhen prefers thickets, hedgerows, and patches of thick jungle, often at some
distance from water; and it is often seen in gardens and close to villages. It comes out nu fields, gardens,
&c. to feed, and, when approached, runs to its covert with great rapidity and erect tail ; it celoubs with
facility through the thick shrubs and reeds, and is dislodged with difficulty. Near villages it oe oy
tame. It feeds both on grain and insects, and emits a loud call. Theobald found the nest in @ jheel, made
of a brownish cream-colour, spotted and blotched with brownish red. It is
Burmah into the Malayan isles.”
da valuable remedy by the natives of Bengal ;

of weeds, containing seven eggs
found throughout India and Ceylon, extending through
Mr. Blyth states that “ the blood of this species is accounte te
hence, in the bazaar, the dealers want a higher price for it nea for ones bud ig - size. sane
Captain Irby remarks that, in Oudh and Kumaon, the Gallinula phencura 1s “very common g

: . la es.”
ear, frequenting small ponds and swamps near villag hoe : fe thie
: In Ais ae on Indian birds by the late Captain Boys, it 1s stated! that he shots exon ea

ber, 1840, where |
ee difficult of access, flies slowly, but runs swiftly,

: KI dla Dagll Alva he found it ‘running over weeds and
Species at Khoonda Fool, on
skulking under brushwood near the water; it is shy and
and is very good eating.” i sc ty dhe nonrtene ete

The | c, re 7 Schomburgk, in his ‘ Notes on the Birds of Siam,’ says that in th ae -
wo : : as an additio
Waterhen is not very common ; it is very shy; and it w

our commissariat.”

as but seldom we could procure it