384 GRALLiE. RALLID^. 



showing how subordinate the organs of flight are 

 to those of swimming. 



Early in December we found an egg in Mount 

 Edgecumbe pond, undoubtedly of this species, for 

 no other large bird frequents it. It was larger 

 than a hen's eggy but more regularly oval: and 

 appeared to have been of a pale blue tint, but 

 covered with a coat of white chalky substance. It 

 was lying on some crushed reeds at the surface, 

 but evidently had been floating a long time, for 

 it was discoloured, and the contents were coagu- 

 lated by decomposition. 



CINEREOUS COOT.* 



Fulica Americana. — Gmel. 



And. pi. 239. 



In the immense morass behind Savanna le Mar, 

 the dense rushes afford shelter to innumerable 

 aquatic birds, among which one may recognise, even 

 at a distance, the Sultanas by their graceful air 

 and slender form, the Gallinules by their scarlet 

 shields, and the Coots by their conspicuous ivory 

 beaks. In the broad spaces of open water, which 

 here and there margin the reeds, as at Radonda, 



* Length 15§ inches, expanse 27i, flexure 7 1, tail 2-jij, rictus 1^, 

 height of shield from base of lower mandible 1, tarsus 2^, middle toe 

 3y%, width of middle membrane -^. 



