82 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL 



Genus GALUNULA, or True Water Hens. 



Type, GALLINULA CHLOROPUS. 



Gallinula of Brisson (1760). The birds comprising the present genus are 

 characterised by their long, slender toes, which are free from lobes, but bordered 

 by a very narrow membrane, and by their small, red frontal shield. The wings 

 are nearly four times the length of the metatarsus (the secondaries shorter than the 

 primaries) and armed with a small recumbent spine. The tail is short, and com- 

 posed of twelve feathers. The legs are long, and the lower part of the tibia 

 devoid of feathers. The bill is short, stout, compressed, slightly swelling towards 

 the tip ; the culmen extended, and expanding into an oblong frontal plate ; 

 nostrils oval, situated in a groove, pierced in a membrane. Three toes in front, 

 long and slender, cleft to the base ; hind toe moderately long ; claws sharp. 



This genus is composed of about nine species and subspecies, which are 

 distributed over all parts of the world except the Polar latitudes. One species is 

 resident in the British Islands. 



The True or typical Water Hens are dwellers on the banks of lakes and rivers, 

 frequenting the reeds and coarse vegetation by the water side. They are shy 

 birds, of slow and laboured flight, making bulky nests amongst the aquatic 

 vegetation, and their eggs are numerous and double-spotted. Their notes are shrill 

 and unmusical. They run and walk with a peculiar jerking movement of the tail. 

 Their food consists of worms, insects, seeds, herbage, grain, and fruits. They are 

 monogamous. 



