86 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



f 



SUBFAMILY GALLINULINJE. 

 GENUS GALLINULA BRISSON. 



Gallinula BBISS. Orn. vi, 1760, 3. Type, Fulica chloropus LINN. 



CHAE. Bill shorter than head, compressed, its vertical outlines convex terminally, 

 straight or slightly concave opposite the nostril ; nostril elongated, longitudinal, slit-like ; 

 forehead covered by an extension of the horny covering of the bill (rudimentary in the 

 young). Middle toe longer than the tarsus: toes with a slight lateral membrane or margin. 



The above characters will serve readily to distinguish the 

 species of this genus from the American genera, lonornis and 

 Porphyriops, the former having the nostril small and oval, the 

 middle toe shorter than the tarsus, and the toes without trace 

 of lateral membrane, while the latter (an exclusively South 

 American genus) has the frontal shield small and conical, and 

 is, moreover, composed of birds of small size. Two American 

 species of Gallinula are known, one of them ( G. garmani ALLEN) 

 peculiar to the basin of Lake Titicaca, Peru. Both are more 

 nearly allied to the G. chloropus of Europe than to any other 

 species, but are very distinct from that, as well as from each 

 other. 



Gallinula galeata (Licht.) 



FLORIDA GALLINULE. 



Popular synonyms. American Gallinule; Scarlet-fronted Gallinule; Ked-billed Mud-hen. 



Orex galeata LIGHT. Verz. Doubl. 1823,80, No. 826. 

 Gallinula galeata BONAP. Am. Orn. iv, 1832, 128. NUTT. Man. ii. 1834, 221. CASS. in 



Bairds B. N. Am. 1858, 752.-BAIKD. B. N. Am. 1859, No. 560,-CouES. Key. 1872, 275; 



Check List, 1873. No. 472; 2d ed. 1882, No. 684; Birds N. W. 1874, 540. KIDGW. Nom. 



N. Am. B. 1881, No. 579; Man. N. Am. B. 1887, 141. A. O. U. Check List, 1886, No. 219. 

 Gallinula chloropus BONAP. Synop. 1828, 336 (nee LATH.). AUD. Orn. Biog. iii, 1835, 



330, pi. 224; Synop. 1839, 210; B. Am. v, 1842, 132, pi. 304. 



HAB. The whole of tropical and temperate America, from Canada to Brazil and 

 Chili. 



Sp. CHAB. Adult: Frontal plate large, obovate, truncated or slightly convex posteri- 

 orly, flat and smooth, or tumid and corrugated. Bill shorter than the* head, rather thick, 

 compressed. Head, neck, and entire lower parts dark plumbeous, with a bluish cinereous 

 cast, frequently nearly black on the head and neck, and generally lighter (in autumnal and 

 winter specimens quite white) on the abdomen. Crissum white, the middle feathers black ; 

 feathers of the flanks widely edged with white, producing broad stripes; edge of the wing 

 and edge of outer primary white. Upper parts dark russet, or sepia-brown, darker on the 

 rump. Bill and frontal shield bright vermilion in life, the end of the former greenish yellow 

 or bright yellow; iris brown; legs and feet yellowish green, the joints ashy blue; upper 



