decrease of rain in this country the last few years has had anything
to do with this, I cannot say ; but it is very possible, for the swamps
have had less water in them, and have become more overgrown"with
weeds. Ducks, too, are getting scarcer year by year/'’
Mr. Andersson's notes on the species in South-Western Africa
are as follows : “ This splendid bird is rather scarce in Damara and
Great Namaqua Land, but is pretty abundant in the lake regions
and on the rivers Teoughe and Okavango ; it is also not uncommon,
during the rainy season, in Ondonga, where the inhabitants call it
* King of the Waterhens/ and declare that the moment it utters its
deep guttural notes every Water-hen within hearing immediately
responds by its own peculiar cry. The only spot in Damara Land
proper where I found this species at all common was the great reedy
marsh of Omanbondé ; but there it was very timid, and consequently
most difficult to approach. It seldom ventured into the open, but
would warily skirt the dense reedy recesses which formed its favourite
haunts, and into which it would precipitately retreat on the slightest
sign of danger. At Lake N'gami and on the River Botletlé I found
it less difficult to obtain, probably on account of its greater abundance.
I t lies close during the day, and is usually only to be seen in
the early morning and in the cool of the afternoon. Its food is very
various, and consists of aquatic plants, mollusks, fish, eggs, and, I
have no doubt, even young birds. In a domesticated state it will
eat meat readily. If captured young it becomes very tame, and may
be trusted at large, when it will freely associate with common
poultry. This species has a heavy unwieldy flight, and has recourse
to its wings only as a last chance of making its escape. It dives
when in water deep enough to allow of its doing so, and it runs with
great rapidity amongst the tangled reedy brakes of its native
haunts.” According to Professor Barboza du Bocage it regularly
frequents the coast of Mossamedes, and he has received from Senor
Anchieta a number of specimens from this district and from the Rio
Coroca, where it is called by the natives “ KuJculmxi.”
Head, hind part of neck, and wing-feathers, glossy-violet ; back and
rump, dull glossy-green ; cheeks, throat, fore-part of neck, and under
part of body, violet-blue ; tail, dull green ; vent-feathers pure white.
“ Iris red; bill and frontal shield blood-red; thighs, tarsi, and
feet dark pink” (Ayres). Length, 17"; wing, 9"; tail, 3".
Fig. Daubent. PI. Enl. 810.
598. P o r ph y r io a l l e n t (Thomps.). Allen's Purple Gallinule.
This is a much smaller species than the preceding bird, measuring
in the flesh, according to the late Mr. A n d e rsso nT o ta l length,
10-6; wing, 5-8; tail, 2'9; bill, P0; tarsus, 2-0. A pair were
shot by his friend Axel at Ondonga in Ovampo Land on the 5th
of February, 1867, and Senor Anchieta has found the species at
Humbe, on the Ounene River—native name “ Oanbonja-anganga,.”
The same naturalist has also procured it in Loango, and it has been
seen from other parts of Western Africa. The late Mr. Frank Oates
also had a specimen in his collection procured somewhere during
his journey to the Zambesi, but the exact locality was not recorded.
The following is a translation of Prof. Bocage's description:
Upper surface of the body olive-brownish, shaded with green;
neck and breast bluish violet; head, belly, and thighs, deep black ;
under tail-coverts white, the shorter ones black; quills blackish,
with the outer webs olive-green; centre tail-feathers like the back,
the others black, edged with olive-green : “ bill, legs, and toes bright
red.”
Fig. Dresser, B. Eur. vii. pi. 502.
599. F ulica c ristata, Gm. Red-Knobbed Coot.
The Crested Coot is abundant on all ponds and sheets of water. It
also frequents deep holes and still reaches in rivers, concealing itself
amid the herbage during the day, and feeding morning and evening
about the banks. It wanders at these times several hundred yards
from its lair, and on being alarmed, scuttles away on its feet, aided
by its wings, until, a sufficient impetus being attained, it rises in the
air, and will not unfrequently fly a very long distance. I t swims well
and boldly, and we have seen it alight on the waters of Table Bay
and breast a considerable sea. It constructs a nest in September
of sedge usually floating among the rushes, and lays seven eggs,
of a cream-coloured ground, covered with dark-brown spots: axis,
2 " 1'" • diam.j 1" 6'". The young when first hatched are little black
balls of soft down, but they swim and dive almost from the moment
of leaving the egg.
Mr. Rickard informs us that it is found near Port Elizabeth, being
common in the Swartkops, sometimes found in small vleys. In
Natal, writes Mr. Ayres, “ these Coots inhabit the lagoons, and are