Rails, Gallinules, Coots 



fore back and nape are rich brown ; its lower back, wings, and 

 tail are brownish black spotted with white, and the flanks and 

 dusky under parts are barred with white. 



Common Gallinule 



(Gallinula galeata) 



Called also .- FLORIDA GALLINULE; WATER HEN; RED- 

 BILLED MUD HEN; BLUE RAIL 



Length \2 to 14 inches. 



Male and Female A bare, bright red shield on forehead, same 

 color as bill; plumage uniform dark bluish or grayish black, 

 darkest on head and neck; washed with olive brown on 

 back and shoulders, and fading to whitish underneath; flanks 

 conspicuously streaked with white; space under tail white; 

 legs greenish yellow, reddish at joint. 



Range Temperate and tropical America, nesting from Ontario 

 and New England to Brazil and Chili, and wintering from 

 our southern states southward. 



Season Summer resident or transient summer visitor, from May 

 to October, north of the southern states. 



There is a popular impression, for which the early ornitholo- 

 gists are doubtless responsible, that all gallinules are birds of the 

 tropics; but this so-called Florida species crosses the Canadian 

 borders in no small numbers every summer, and nests are also 

 constantly reported in our northern and middle states. The 

 truth probably is that the range of the Florida gallinule has not 

 extended, but that within the last half century a hundred bird 

 students scour our woods, meadows, and marshes for every 

 enthusiast that tramped over them fifty years ago; and we are 

 just becoming thoroughly acquainted with many of our birds 

 when the gunners, milliners, cats, and other fatal accompaniments 

 of a civilization that in many respects is still barbaric, threaten to 

 exterminate the sadly decreased numbers left us to enjoy. 



Gallinules, although wild, shy, and timid creatures, or they 

 would be no kin of the rails, wade more than they and swim 

 expertly. It is amusing to watch their heads bob in rhythm 

 with their feet as they rest lightly on the water. In brackish 

 pools rather than salt ones, and preferably around fresh water 



184 



