604 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 



" Single specimens have occasionally been met with. Author 

 has seen but one, which was killed in July, 1862, on the meadows 

 skirting the Delaware, below Trenton. It was seen wading in a 

 shallow ditch, as though fishing." [C. C. A.] 



PULICA. L. 

 P. americana, Gmel. American Coot. Mud Hen. 



Toes lobate, edged with broad flaps ; bill white, tinged blue 

 at end and there bearing a brown spot ; frontal shield brown ; 

 sooty above ; belly slaty ; in winter, belly suffused with white. 

 Length, 14 inches; tail, 2 inches. Frequents reedy marshes 

 and shores. 



" Generally are first seen about the middle of April, swimming 

 leisurely about ponds and creeks. Are not common on the rivers. 

 When disturbed, they usually make but short flights, and not 

 unfrequently endeavor to escape notice by creeping upon the 

 shore or among bushes skirting the water's edge. They breed 

 in the State, but the author has found no nest as yet. They 

 feed largely upon small fish and aquatic insects, and are totally 

 unfit for food. They have generally all disappeared by October, 

 although single specimens have been met with in midwinter." 

 [C. C. A.] 



SUB-ORDER HERODIONES. 



Herons, &c. 



Family IBIDJE. 



(Tantalidse.) 

 Ibises. 



GUARA, Reich. 



(Eudocimus, Wagl.) 

 Q. alba, L. White Ibis. 



Groove in side of upper mandible ; bill slender, cylindrical 

 and bent downwards ; head naked in front, crown with short 

 feathers ; plumage pure white ; tips of longer quills greenish 

 black ; young grayish brown above, white below. Length, 25 



