AVES. 
263 
upper mandible depressed and dilated towards the base ; nostrils 
lateral, nearly round and pervious, placed near the centre of the 
bill; legs long, strong; tibia half naked; three anterior com¬ 
pletely divided toes, which in some species are very long, and 
marginated by a narrow membrane ; hallux long, articulated on 
the tarsus ; all the toes have long bent claws; wings concave, 
rounded ; the second and third quill the longest. 
Porphyrio tavoua. —The Martinico Porphyrio. 
Plate LX, fig. 9. 
Plead, neck, breast, and abdomen, deep iridescent Antwerp- 
blue, with purple reflections; back, scapulars, rump, and tail, 
deep sea-green, clouded with black ; lesser middle wing-coverts 
and quills azure-blue ; crissum and tibia black ; under tail-coverts 
white ; irides, frontal plate, and three quarters of the bill, scar¬ 
let, tipped with yellow ; legs ash-yellow. Fourteen inches long. 
Inhabits Martinique and the United States of America. 
ORDER XIV.—PINNATIPEDES. 
Bill of medium size, straight ; upper mandible slightly bent 
at the point; upper mandible slightly curved at the tip ; legs 
of medium length, straight; tarsi slender, or compressed ; feet 
with three anterior toes, having rudimentary webs along their 
>. sides ; hallux articulated anteriorly on the tarsus. 
Genus 1.—FULICA.— Linnaeus. 
Generic Character .—Bill somewhat shorter than the head, 
strong, conical, straight, compressed, deeper than broad at the 
base; the ridge projecting in front of forehead, dilated into a 
plate; the upper mandible slightly curved, and widened at the 
base, the lower one forming an angle ; nostrils lateral, longitu¬ 
dinally cleft, and situated in the middle of the bill, half closed 
by an inflated membrane ; legs long ; tibia, partly naked ; three 
anterior toes very long, connected at the base, and edged by a 
scalloped membrane; wings concave, rounded the first and fifth 
quill longest. 
