188 GRALLATORES. GALLINULA. GALLINULE 



Plumage soft, thick, but loose in texture. Body com- 

 pressed at the sides. 



The Gallinules differ from the preceding genus in having 

 the culmen of the upper mandible dilated in a plate-like 

 form upon the forehead, and in having their toes bordered, 

 for the whole of their length, by a narrow unbroken mem- 

 brane. Their habits are also more aquatic, being more fre- 

 quently seen upon the water, where they swim and dive with 

 facility, and in which element they procure a principal part 

 of their food. In affinity, they stand nearly allied to the 

 genus Crex on the one hand, and to those of Porphyrio and 

 Fullca on the other. With them the body is compressed, 

 but not to so great a degree as in the Rails and Crakes. 

 They run swiftly, and, when danger threatens, hide them- 

 selves in reeds, sedges, holes in river banks, &c. They 

 breed in the neighbourhood of water, frequently founding 

 the nest upon floating weeds or drift bushes, and lay several 

 eggs. Their food consists of insects, worms, slugs, vege- 

 tables, and seeds. 



COMMON GALLINULE. 



GALLINULA CHLOROPUS, Lath. 

 PLATE XXXI. 



Gallinula Chloropus, Lath. Ind. Ornith. 2. 770. sp. 13 Steph. Shaw's 



Zool. 12. 242. pi. 30 Flem. Br. Anim. 1. 99. sp. 130. 



Fulica Chloropus, Linn. Syst. 1. 258. .Gmel. Syst. 1. 698. 



Gallinula Chloropus major, Raii Syn. p. 113. A. 1. Briss. Ornith. 6. 3. 1. 



t. 1 Will. 233. t. 58. 



Poule d'Eau, Buff. Ois. 8. 171. t. 15 Id. pi. Enl. 877. 



Poule d'Eau ordinaire, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. 2. 693. 



Grunfussiger Rhorhuhn, Btchst. Naturg. Deut. 4. 489. Meyer, Taschenb. 



Deut. 2. 410. 

 Common Water-Hen, or Moor-Hen, Will (Angl.) 312. 58. Albin. Birds, 



2. pi. 72. 3. pi. 91 Bewick's Br. Birds, 2. 128. 

 -Common Gallinule, Penn. Br. ZooL 2. 217. pi. 77. Arct. Zool. 2. 411 



Lath. Syn. 5. 258. 12 Lewirfs Br. Birds, 5. pi. 191 Wale. Syn. 2. pi. 



169 Mont. Ornith. Diet. 1, Shaw's Zool. 12. 242 Flem. Br. Anim. 1. 



99. sp. 130. 



