400 AVES. 



lives are passed in ponds and marshes. Their polished plumage is 



not less adapted to this kind of life than their conformation, and 



these birds establish an evident link between the order of the Gral- 



latoriae and that of the Palmipedes. There is but one in Europe, 



F. atra, F. aterrima, and F. xthiops, Gm.; La Foulque, Enl. 



197, Frisch. 208, Naum. 30, f. 40. (The Coot.) The shield of 



a deep slate colour; edge of the wings whitishj in the nuptial 



season the shield becomes red: found wherever there is a 



pond.(l) 



We will terminate this sketch of the Grallatorise with three 

 genera; which it is difficult to associate with any other, and 

 which may be considered as forming separately so many small 

 families. 



Chionis, Foster. Vaginalis, Lath. 



Or the Sheath-Bills. Their legs are short, almost like those of the 

 Gallinacese; their tarsi scutellated, their bill stout and conical, hav- 

 ing a hard substance enveloping its base, which, it appears, the bird 

 has the power of raising and depressing. 



Only one species is known, and that is from New Holland, 



Vag. Chionis, Lath. Ill, pi. 89, Chionis necrophaga, Vieill. Gal. 



258. It is the size of a Partridge, with entirely white plumage. 



It haunts the sea-coast, where it feeds on the dead animals 



thrown up by the waves. 



Glareola. 



The beak of the Pratincoles is short, conical, arcuated throughout, 

 has a large opening, and resembles that of the Gallinaceae. Their 

 excessively long and pointed wings remind us of the Swallows, (2) 

 or of the Palmipedes of the high seas; their legs are of a moderate 

 length, their tarsi scutellated, and their external toes somewhat pal- 

 mated; their thumb touches the ground. Aquatic worms and insects 

 constitute their food. The European species, 



Glar. austriaca, Enl. 882; Glar. j)'>'0'tincola, Leach, Lin. 

 Trans., XIII, pi. xii; Naum., 29, F. 59, is brown above, white 

 beneath and on the rump; a black circle round the throat; feet 

 and base of the beak, reddish. It appears to be found in all the 

 north of the eastern Gontinent.(3) 



(1) Add the Coot of Madagascar [Ful, crisiata, Gm.) Enl. 797; Vieill. Gal. 269. .!\ 

 Add alsoi<^. amcricana, Gm.; Wlls. IX, pi. Ixxiii, f, 1. ^m. Ed. ' 



(2) Linnaeus (Edit. XII ) even placed thecommon species in the genus Hirundo, 

 under the name of Hir. pratincola. 



(3) G/areo/a nat'/a, Gm., is the young of the common species. See Lead), Lin. 



