BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA 207 



primaries rigid. Color of adults plain slate-color, becoming darker 

 (blackish) on head and neck, the mider tail coverts, secondaries, or 

 edge of wing (sometimes all) partly white. 



Range. — Nearly cosmopolitan. (Many species.) 



Remarks. — Several South American coots have usually been re- 

 ferred to Fulica but appear to be subgenerically distinct and have not 

 been used in the above description. Thus, Fulica ardesiaca Tschudi, 

 F. annillata Vieillot, and F. rufifrons Philippi and Landbeck agree 

 with one another and differ from all the species of Fuliea proper in 

 having the lateral membranes of the toes very narrow, with the seg- 

 ments very slightly if at all convex, indeed almost bridging the gap 

 between the coots and gallinules ; while F. gigantea Eydoux and Sou- 

 leyet, though agreeing with typical Fulica in the broad and conspicu- 

 ously scalloped lateral membranes to the toes differs strikingly in the 

 more elongated and perfectly straight claws and in form of the frontal 

 shield, which on each side is elevated into a thick vertical ridge. F. 

 comuta Bonaparte has also not been used, but this may also be sub- 

 generically distinct, having a large hornlike projection or caruncle 

 on the shield. 



KEY TO THE NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICAN FORMS OF FULICA 



a. Frontal shield whitish (pale brownish in dried skins), like the bill, much 



wrinkled Fulica caribaea (p. 222) 



aa. Frontal shield dark chestnut to reddish brown ; not wrinkled. 

 6. Under tail coverts white. 



c. Frontal shield smaller, not over 13 mm. in length. 



Fulica americana americana (p. 213) 

 cc. Frontal shield larger, over 14 mm. in length. 

 d. Bill relatively heavier, 16-18 mm. deep at base. 



Fulica americana grenadensis (p 221) 

 dd. Bill relatively slenderer, less thau 15 mm. deep at base. 



Fulica am^ericana columbiana (extralimital)* 

 6&. Under tail coverts dark slate like rest of underparts. 



Fulica atra atra (p. 207) 



FULICA ATRA ATRA Linnaeus 



EUBOPEliN CoOT 



Adult (sexes alike). — Head and neck wholly black, the crown and 

 occiput with a slight sheen, the upper throat and chin with a deep 

 fuscous-brownish wash ; a short grayish- white line under the eye ; rest 

 of upperparts very dark slate to slate-black, with a faint brownish or 

 olive-brownish wash on the scapulars, interscapulars, back, and upper 



" Fulica americana columbiana. — Fulica americana columhiana Chapman, 

 Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., xxxiii, 1914, 170 (Lake Herrara, north of BogotS, 

 Colombia; coll. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.) ; xxxvi, 1917, 220 (Lake Herrara and La 

 Olanda, centr. Colombia) ; Peters, Check List Birds of World, ii, 1934, 212. 



