222 BULLETIN 5 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



FULICA CARIBAEA Ridgway 



Caeibbe^an Coot 



Adult (sexes alike). — Similar to the adult of Fulica cvmericana 

 americaim, but with the frontal shield whitish (pale brownish in dried 

 skins) like the bill, oval or elliptical, much wrinkled (17-22 mm. long, 

 8.5-13 mm. wide in the breeding season), the bill slightly slenderer, 

 and the outer web of the outermost primary almost wholly white, 

 more so than in F. a. americana. The same seasonal variation in the 

 underparts (white tips to the feathers in autumn and winter birds) 

 occurs in both species. 



Other plumages similar to corresponding stages of Fulica ameri- 

 ccma americana. 



Adult male.— Wing 173-191 (184.9) ; tail 42-56 (49.1) ; culmen from 

 nostril 14.5-17 (15.6) ; culmen with frontal shield 47-57.5 (53.9) ; tar- 

 sus 54-62.4 (58.9) ; middle toe without claw 76-84 (78.7 mm.).''^ 



Adult fe7nale.— Wing 165-185 (174.7) ; tail 42.5-51.5 (47.2) ; culmen 

 from nostril 13-15 (14.4) ; culmen with frontal shield 43-51 (47.3) ; 

 tarsus 48-58 (53.1) ; middle toe without claw 68-78 (73.5 mm.).^« 



Range. — Resident in the West Indies from Hispaniola (Gantier; 

 £tang Miragoane ; Pont de I'Estere ; El Batey ; Laguna del Salodillo ; 

 Haina ; Artibonite ; Gonaives ; Guerra ; Rio Yasica ; near Monte Cristi ; 

 Laguna Cabral; Port-de-Paix ; Trou Caiman; Trou des Roseaux) ; 

 Puerto Rico (Guanica, Cartagena, and Anegado Lagoons ; Guayabal ; 

 Camuy ; Rio Arecibo ; Cosmo Springs Reservoir) ; Culebra Island ; 

 and St. Croix; to St. John; St. Barts; St. Kitts; Montserrat; Mar- 

 tinique; St. Lucia; Antigua; Sombrero; Barbuda; Anguilla; Guada- 

 loupe; St. Vincent; Barbados; and the Grenadines (Mustique; May- 

 reau; Union Island; Canouan; Carriacou, Grenada), and, somewhat 

 uncertainly, to Trinidad and Venezuela (Lagunilla).^^ 



Type locality. — St. John, Virgin Islands. 



Fulica americana (not of Gmelin) Nev^'ton (A. and E.), Ibis, 1859, 260 (St. 

 Croix).— GuNDLACH, Journ. fiir Orn., 1874, 314 (Puerto Rico) ; 1878, 162, 

 190 (Puerto Rico). — Lawrence, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. New York, viii, 1864, 

 100 (Sombrero).— Leotaud, Ois. Trinidad, 1866, 594.— Listee, Ibis, 1880, 44 

 (St, Vincent.)— Cory, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, 1881, 155 (Haiti) ; Birds Haiti 

 and San Domingo, 1885, 163-164 (Gantier) ; Cat. West Indian Birds, 1892, 

 91 (Hispaniola). — Stahl, Ornis, iii, 1887, 452 (Puerto Rico). — Feelden, Ibis, 

 1889, 499 (Barbados; habits).—? Chapman, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vi, 

 1894, 78 (Trinidad).— Chesme, Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Orn. Ser., i, 1896, 25 



^ Eleven specimens including the types of caribaea and major, from St. Johns, 

 Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Barbuda, and Guadeloupe. 



^ Eight specimens from St. Johns, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Barbuda, and 

 Antigua. 



"•^The records from the Grenadines other than Carriacou are doubtful, as no 

 specimens have been collected to substantiate sight records of "white seal coots." 



