138 



GRALLATORES. 



LOBIPEDIDJl. 



LOBIPEDIDJE. 



THE COMMON COOT. 



Fulica atra. 



Fulica atra, Common Coot, 



)> '> 



The 

 Common 



The 



Foulque macroule, 



PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 127. 



MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet. 



BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 149. 



FLEM. Brit. An. p. 100. 



SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 193. 



JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 221. 



GOULD, Birds of Europe. 



TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. ii. p. 706. 



FULICA. Generic Characters. Beak of medium size, shorter than the 

 head, strong, conical, straight, compressed at the base, higher than broad, 

 superior basal portion extending up the forehead, and dilated, forming a 

 naked patch ; points of both mandibles compressed, of equal length ; the 

 upper one slightly curved, the inferior mandible with an angle underneath 

 at the symphysis. Nostrils lateral, pierced longitudinally about the 

 middle of the beak, partly closed by a membrane. Legs long, slender, 

 naked above the tarsal joint; three toes in front, one behind; all the toes 

 long, united at the base, furnished laterally with an extension of the 



