22l6 



THE GAME BIRDS AND RAILS 



with black. Andersson, writing from Damaraland, says that " I have only found 



this species at Oman- 

 bonde, where it is 

 not uncommon, and 

 breeds. It frequents 

 stagnant waters, 

 thickly fringed and 

 studded with aquatic 

 herbage, among the 

 ever-progressive de- 

 cay of which it loves 

 to disport itself and 

 to search for food. 

 It is very shy and 

 reserved in its habits, 

 seldom going far from 

 effective cover, and 

 gliding through the 

 mazes of the rank 

 vegetation with as- 

 tonishing ease and 

 swiftness. ' ' 



We 



now come 



to a group, including 

 the water hens and 

 coots, which are char- 

 acterized by having a 

 frontal shield at the 

 base of the upper bill. 

 The South- Australian 

 Mortier's water hen 

 ( Tribonyx mortieri) , 

 shown in the accompanying cut, is the only representative of its genus, and may 

 be recognized by its short toes, which do not exceed the leg (metatarsus) in 

 length, its large size, and feeble wings, with the primary and secondary quills about 

 equal in length. The general color of this bird is ruddy brown washed with olive, 

 shading into greenish gray on the wing coverts, which are spotted with white; the 

 head and neck are dark olive brown, and the rest of the under parts greenish gray 

 washed with olive, with a large white patch on the sides of the body. Gould states 

 that ' ' the localities it affects are marsh lands and the sides of rivers. It was daily 

 seen by me on the Government demesne at New Norfolk, Tasmania, where it 

 frequently left its sedgy retreat, and walked about the paths and other parts of 

 the garden, with its tail erect like the common hen. Even here, however, the 

 greatest circumspection and quietude were necessary to obtain a sight of it; for 



Water Hens 



MORTIER'S WATER HEN. 



(From Sclater, Pt-oc. Zool. Soc., 1867.) 



