FULICA. BIRDS. 305 



The birds included in this order are monogamous, but unite in large bands for 

 their periodical voyages, which they perform by flight or swimming. They swim 

 and dive with equal facility, and stretch their legs backwards in flight. In gene, 

 ral, there is no very marked difference between the male and the female. Their 

 food consists of insects, worms, fish, and their spawn, and occasionally of vegetables. 

 Their body is covered with an abundant down ; and their plumage is close and 

 glossy. 



Gen. 1. FULICA, Lin. 



Bill midle-sized, strong, conical, straight, compressed, much 

 deeper than broad at the base ; the ridge projecting in front, 

 and dilated into a naked plate ; both mandibles of the same 

 length, the upper slightly curved, and widened at the base, 

 the lower forming an angle ; nostrils lateral, in the middle 

 of the bill, longitudinally cleft, half closed by a membrane ; 

 legs long, slender, naked above the knee ; all the toes very 

 long, connected at their base, and furnished along their sides 

 with scalloped membranes. 



The Coots are more decided residents in the water than even the Gallinulae, being 

 rarely seen on land, and swimming and diving with equal facility. They inhabit 

 fresh waters, gulfs, and bays, but venture not into the deep and open seas. Th 

 sexes are scarcely distinguishable, and the young differ very little in appearance 

 from the adults. Their food chiefly consists of insects and aquatic vegetables. 



F. atra, Lin. Common Coot. Head and neck deep black ; upper 

 parts slaty gray ; under parts bluish ash- coloured ; frontal plate 

 very broad, white ; bill white, tinged witli rose colour. 15 to 16 

 inches long. Inhabits Europe. B Shaw, xii. pi. 29. 



F. cristaia, Lath. Body dusky blue, with a red, green, and yellow 

 ring above the knee ; caruncle red, bifid, erect. 18 inches long. 

 Inhabits Madagascar. Shaw, xii. 239. 



Gen. 2. PODOA, Illig. Plotus, Lath. Heliornis, Vieill. 



Bill as long as the head, cylindrical, straight, pointed ; point 

 notched, ridge distinct ; nasal furrow large ; nostrils lateral, 

 towards the middle of the bill ; legs short, placed very far 

 back ; tarsus rounded ; the three anterior toes united by a 

 lobed membrane ; hind toe smooth ; tail very broad. 



P. Surinamcjisis, Tern. Body above brown, white beneath ; crown 

 and neck behind black ; throat, jugulum, and stripe near the 

 eye white ; sides of the neck banded with black and white. 13 

 inches long. Inhabits Surinam. Shaw, xiii. 22. 



P. Sencgalensis, Tern. Body brown above, white beneath ; sides 

 of the neck and back spotted with black ; tail wedge-shaped, 

 rigid and narrow ; bill and legs red. Senegal. -Shan, xiii. 21. 



Gen. 3. PHALABOPUS, Briss. Tringa, Lin. 



Bill long, slender, feeble, straight, depressed at the base, both 

 mandibles channelled to the tip ; the extremity of the upper 

 bent down on the lower, and obtuse ; point of the lower man- 

 VOL. i. u 



