264 
AVES. 
Fulica atra. — The Common Coot. 
Plate XLIII. fig. 3. 
Upper parts slate-gray; under parts bluish ash-colour; frontal 
plate broad and white; head and neck deep glossy black; bill 
white, with a rosy tinge. Sixteen inches long. Inhabits 
Europe. 
Genus 2.— PODOA.— Il/iger. 
Generic Character. —Bill as long as the head, straight, cylin¬ 
drical, pointed; ridge distinct, reaching three quarters the length 
of the bill; upper mandible with a small notch at its tip ; nos¬ 
trils lateral, oblong, situated near the centre of the bill; legs 
short, strong, placed far back; tarsus rounded; three anterior 
toes, with a scalloped membrane at their edges; hallux short, 
nails long, bent; wings of medium length, second and third 
quills longest. 
Podoa Senegalensis. — The Senegal Podoa. 
Plate LX. fig- 6. 
Crown, nape, back of the neck, back, wings, and tail, brown¬ 
ish ash-coloured, spotted with white ; under parts white, trans¬ 
versely barred with dark brown ; throat ash-brown, spotted 
with white; tail long; bill and legs orange; irides yellow. 
Twenty inches long. Inhabits Senegal. 
Genus 3.—PHALAROPUS.— Brisson. 
Generic Character. —Bill long, slender, weak, slightly curved, 
depressed at the base; both mandibles channelled at the point, 
the upper obtuse, bent down at its tip on the lower one; point 
of the under mandible subulate; nostrils basal, linear, and 
placed in the groove; legs of medium length; three anterior 
toes connected by scalloped and serrated membranes ; hallux 
small, weak, and articulated on the tarsus considerably above 
the toes, the nail touching the ground; wings long, first and 
second quills longest. 
Section I—Bill slender, depressed at the base, and subulate 
at the point. 
