GALLINULE. 



609 



as in the coots ; and they differ from the coots in not 

 having the toes with broad and lobed webs, or any thing 

 more than a simple projection of the skin along each 

 margin. The whole structure of the feet, and the place 

 of their insertion, are indeed quite different in the 

 coot and the gallinule. The foot of the coot has the 

 oblique motion of a swimming foot, and is articulated 

 far backward ; the tarsus is flattened, so that it may 

 be brought forward with less resistance of the water ; 

 and the body of the bird is shaped a good deal like 

 that of the goose. The body of the gallinule is more 

 like that of a common fowl ; and though the feet are 

 placed rather farther back than in birds which never 

 take to the water, they are still walking feet ; and 

 the long and elastic toes enable the weight of the 

 body to be thrown far forward. They are, in fact, 

 feet very admirably adapted to the places which the 

 birds inhabit tall and matted vegetation by the 

 banks of the waters. The gallinule is of much more 

 robust make than any of the rails ; its legs are much 

 stouter, its toes more elastic, and the hind one espe- 

 cially much more produced, pointing out that it has 

 to travel upon more yielding surfaces. The haunts 

 of the bird, when compared with those of the species 

 with which it has been confounded, agree exactly 

 with the differences of structure. It is not so much 

 in the water, or in so broad water, as the coots, and it 

 is more so than the water rails. 



THE COMMON GALLINULE (Gallinula chloropus) 

 is the only British species. It is not very abundant, 

 or at all events very frequently seen in any part of 

 the country, but still it is pretty generally distributed 

 both in the southern and the northern parts of the 

 island. The general size is about the same as that of 

 a pigeon, and the weight, when in fine condition, 

 about a pound ; but at some seasons of the year it is 

 very lean, and weighs much less, not above ten or 

 eleven ounces. The length from the point of the 

 bill to the extremity of the tail is about fourteen 

 inches, and the stretch of the wings about twenty-one 

 inches. The bill is greenish-yellow at the tip, and 

 reddish-white at the base. The shield or plate, which 

 advances on the forehead, changes its colour with the 

 season. In the breeding time it is a brilliant vermil- 

 ion colour ; but when the grand labour of the year 

 is performed it changes to reddish-white. The head is 

 rather small for the size of the bird, and it is black, 

 with the exception of a white spot under each eye. 

 All the upper part is dark olive-green, of very glossy 

 lustre ; and the general colour on the under part is 

 dull leaden-grey. The crest feathers are black ; those 

 on the belly and thighs have the points dull white ; 

 and there are produced feathers streaked black and 

 white, which grow from the sides, and hang over the 

 flanks and thighs. These last-mentioned feathers ap- 

 pear to act in some way as floats when the bird takes 

 to the water. The hem of the wing, the margin .of 

 the tail, and some of the under tail coverts, are white. 

 The garter, or portion of the tibia immediately above 

 the tarsal-joint, is red ; but the tarsi and the toes 

 are different shades of green and greenish-yellow, 

 from which the bird gets its trivial name of chloropus, 

 or " green foot." The toes are very long, the middle 

 front one measuring not less than three inches from 

 the articulation to the point of the claw ; and they are 

 very broad on their under surfaces, owing to the bor- 

 dering margins being at that part. 



The body is long, and has its principal cross dimen- 

 sion placed differently from that of those birds which 

 NAT. HIST. VOL. II. 



float on the water. These are generally broader than 

 deep, and flattened on the under side, so as to present 

 the greater base to the water, and thus float the 

 more lightly altogether, and with the less pressure on 

 the individual parts. The feathers are remarkably 

 close, and their coats well supplied with down, espe- 

 cially on the under side ; their gloss is also such that 

 the whole bird is water-proof, or at least can resist 

 the action of that liquid for a considerable time. 



During the day it lurks among the herbage on the 

 banks of rivers and streams of running water, prefer- 

 ring those that have firm banks and clear currents to 

 those that are stagnant and bordered with ooze. In 

 the evenings it is more active, moving about in search 

 of its food, which consists chiefly of small animals 

 which in those moist places come out only after the 

 heat of day is over. It also eats seeds and other 

 farinaceous vegetable matters. In search of these it 

 ranges the stubble fields, and at that season gets fat, 

 and has its flesh much better flavoured than at other 

 times of the year. 



The nest is composed of a large quantity of withered 

 reeds and rushes, closely interwoven, and the birds are 

 particularly careful to have it placed in a most retired 

 situation close by the brink of water ; and the female, 

 it is said, never quits it without covering the eggs 

 with the leaves of the surrounding herbage. Latham 

 and Pennant say, she builds upon some stump of a 

 tree which is only a short distance from the ground, 

 or a shrub by the side of water : she may, no 

 doubt, sometimes vary the place of her nest, accord- 

 ing as particular circumstances ma)' command, but 

 she generally prefers the other mode of building it. 

 She has commonly two hatchings in a season, and 

 lays from six to eight eggs at a time. The eggs ave 

 irregularly and thinly marked with rust-coloured 

 spots on a yellowish white ground, and are about two 

 inches in length. The young brood remain but a 

 short time under the nurturing care of the mother : 

 but as soon as they are able to crawl out, they seek 

 the water and shift for themselves. Although the 

 water hen is no where numerous, yet one species or 

 other of them is common in almost every country. 

 It is not yet ascertained whether they migrate from 

 this country to any other, but it is well known that 

 they make partial Sittings from one district to another, 

 and are found in cold mountainous tracts in summer, 

 and in lower and warmer situations during winter. 

 On examination of several specimens of this bird, in 

 full feather, they were found, like most birds of plain 

 plumage, very little different from each other. 



SULTANA HEN (G. porphyrio). These birds have 

 been described as a distinct genus by several writers , 

 and they certainly have characters different from the 

 common gallinule, though they approach much nearer 

 to it than the rails or coots, with both of which it has 

 been confounded. The characters are, whether we 

 consider the birds as a species or a separate genus : 

 bill strong, hard, thick, conical, nearly as deep as 

 long, and shorter than the head ; the upper mandible 

 dilated as it penetrates into the skull ; nostrils lateral, 

 pierced in the corneous mass of the bill, nearly round 

 and pervious ; legs long and stout ; the toes very 

 long in some species ; the anterior quite divided, and 

 edged with a narrow membrane ; wings of moderate 

 dimensions. These birds, like the common gallinule, 

 reside in or near fresh waters, haunt the extensive 

 rice fields of the south, and prefer grain to aquatic 

 herbs, their formidable bill being well adapted to 

 QQ 



