RALLID.E THE RAILS, GALLINULES, AND COOTS. 87 



part of the naked tibife scarlet. Young: Similar, but frontal shield rudimentary, the bill 

 Drownish, paler at the tip ; the whole lower parts suffused with whitish, and the head 

 mixed with the same, particularly the throat, whi,.-li is sometimes wholly white. Stripes 

 on the flanks less distinct or nearly obsolete. Downy Young: Glossy black, the median 

 lower parts fuliginous; throat and cheeks interspersed with silvery white hairs; bill yel- 

 lowish (red in life?) crossed about the middle by a dusky bar. 



Total length, about 12.00-13.00 inches; extent, 20.00 to 21.00; wing. 6.85-7.25: culmen (to end 

 of frontal shield) 1.70-1.85; tarsus, 2.10-2.30; middle toe. 2.50-2.60. 



This species much resembles the Moor-hen, Water-hen, or Gal- 

 linule of Europe (G. cMoropus}, but is larger, has the frontal 

 shield truncated instead of pointed posteriorly, and is other- 

 wise different. It likewise resembles other exotic species, par- 

 ticularly G. gannani of the Peruvian Andes, but is quite dis- 

 tinct. Specimens vary a great deal in the size and shape of the 

 frontal shield, and in the amount of white on the abdomen. 

 These variations are by no means dependent on locality, how- 

 ever, but upon the individual, having doubtless some connec- 

 tion with age and season, the white on the abdomen being 

 more marked on winter specimens. 



Although in most places less numerous than the Coot (Fu- 

 lica americana), the Florida Gallinule is, in favorable localities, 

 a common summer resident throughout the State. Mr. Nelson 

 bears witness to its abundance in Cook county, and in his ex- 

 cellent list gives us the following information concerning it; : 



"Abundant summer resident everywhere in marshes and the 

 larger prairie sloughs. Arrives the last of April or the first of 

 May. Generally has a full set of eggs, numbering from seven 

 to twelve, the first week of June. Its nests are placed wherever 

 fancy dictates; on low ridges a rod or more from the water; 

 in perfectly bare situations on the borders of marshes, or in 

 the midst of bulrushes or wild rice growing in several feet of 

 water. The material used varies with the situation, from fine 

 grasses to the coarsest rushes and fragments of wild rice stalks. 

 In the latter case the nest often floats in the water and is held 

 in place by the surrounding reeds. The young possess the 

 usual black down and disproportionate feet of members of this 

 family at an early age, but the basal two thirds ,of the bill is 

 bright red, the tip only being yellow. I have placed eggs under 

 a hen, but the young, unless removed as soon as hatched, 

 would scramble out and manage to get away. At this age 

 they have a clear metallic peep, quite unlike that of a chicken. 



i 



