164 



FULICARl^. 



RALLlDiE. 



RALLIDjE. 



Gallinula chloropus (Linnaeus *). 

 THE MOOR-HEN, 



OR WATER-HEN, 



Gallinula cliloro^ms. 



(ikiAjWVLA, Brisson'[. — Bill thick at the base, compressed, slightly swollen 

 towards the tip, sulconic, as short as the head. Upper mandible convex, with 

 the culmen extended and dilated, forming a naked, oblong frontal plate or 

 shield ; lateral furrow wide ; mandibles of nearly equal length ; angle of the 

 lower one ascending. Nostrils lateral, pervious, pierced in the membrane of 

 the furrow in the middle of the bill ; longitudinal and linear. Wings short, 

 concave, rounded, armed with a small, sharp, recumbent spine. Legs strong, 

 naked for a short space above the tarsal joint ; scutellated in front ; reticulated 

 behind ; feet four-toed, three before and one behind ; toes long, divided and 

 bordered through their whole length by a narrow entire membrane. 



The Moor-hen is one of those well-known, half-domesti- 

 cated species which afford interesting opportunities for ob- 

 servations on habits. Dr. William Turner, writing in 1544, 

 calls this bird a Water-hen, or a Mot-hen ; and Pennant says, 

 that in the days of moated houses they were very frequent 



* Fulica chloropus, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 258 (1766). 

 + Ornithologie, vi. p. 3 (1760). 



