354 BIRDS. 



31, f. 42. (The Little Spotted Rail). A deep brown dotted with 

 white ; flanks marked with whitish stripes ; found in the vicinity of 

 ponds; it constructs a nest with reeds, that has the form of a 

 wherry, which it fastens to the stem of some one of those plants ; it 

 is a good swimmer and diver, and does not leave France till the 

 middle of winter*. 



FuLicA, Lin. 



The Coots may be divided as follows, from the form of the bill and the 

 appliances of the feet. 



Gallinula, Briss. and Lath, 



Or the Water-hens, have the bill very similar to that of the Ground- 

 Rail, from which these birds are distinguished by the shield on the fore- 

 head, and by very long toes, furnished with a very narrow border. 



Fulica chloropus, L. ; La Poule d'Eau commune, Enl. 877; 

 Frisch, 209; Naum. 29 and 38. (The Water-Hen). A deep 

 brown above; slate-grey beneath, with some white on the thighs, 

 along the middle of the lower part of the abdomen, and on the ex- 

 ternal edge of the wing. The young, Fulica fusca, Gm., Poulette 

 d'eau, Buff., are more lightly coloured, and have a larger frontal 

 escutcheon -j-. 



PoRPHTRio, Briss. 



The bill higher in proportion to its length ; very long toes, without any 

 very sensible border ; the frontal shield large, rounded in some, and square 

 above in others. These birds stand on one foot, using the other to con- 

 vey their food to the bill. Their colours are usually fine shades of blue, 

 violet, and aqua-marina. Such is, 



Fulica porphyrio, L. ; Poule Sultans Ordinaire; Edw. 87, a beau- 

 tiful African bird, now naturalized in several islands and coasts of 

 the Mediterranean J. Its beauty would render it an ornament to 

 our pleasure grounds. 



* There are two other Rails in Europe with short bills, smaller than the porzana, 

 R. BailUoni, Vieill. Diet, and R. pusillus, Naum. 32, f. 43. Among these short- 

 billed Rails maybe placed the Ral. caye7men.ns, Enl. 753 and 3G8j — minulus, Enl. 

 SAT -y—jarnaicensis, Edw. 278; — noveboracensis, Vieill. Gal. 266; — nigro-lateralis, Lich- 

 ten.; — carolinus, Edw. 144; Wils. 48, 2;— Gallinula curizona, T. Col. 417; — G. rubigi- 

 Hosa, Id. Col. 387. 



The Ral. bengalensis, Gm., is a Rliynchaa. 



f The Poule d'eau ardoisee de Vlnde, Vieill. Gal. 268, hardly differs from the com- 

 mon one; — the P. d'eau tachetee, or the Grinette, F. ncevia, Alb. 1 1, 73, is only a young 

 Ral. crex. Add, P. d'eau des Indes, Ral. phcenicurus, Enl. 896 (n). 



X The Ful. maculata, flavipes anAfistulans, or\g\na\\y rest only on some bad figures 

 of Gesner, from drawings which had been sent to him. But the Ful. martinica and 

 flavirostris are true Rhynchasas. The martinica is in Vieill. Gal. 267. Add the Ta- 

 leve a manteau verd (Poiph. s7naragnoius,T.), Enl. 910; — the T. a manteau noir {Porph. 



(a) Add, Gal. martinica, Gm.; Wils. IX, pi. Ixxiii, f. 2.— Eno. Ed, 



