Rails, Gallinules, Coots 



the achievement." When both the Florida and the purple galli- 

 nules build their nests, they very often simply bend down the 

 tops of grasses to form a platform, then place a rude, grassy 

 cradle on it; or the nest may be moored to the stems of the 

 rushes, or to a bush, where the incoming tide raises it, but can- 

 not loosen its anchors. But usually drier sites are chosen. 



The Purple Gallinule (lonornis martinica), a common bird in 

 the southern states, nests so far north as southern Illinois and 

 Carolina, and occasionally strays northward to New England and 

 Wisconsin. In the Gulf states it is usually found in the same 

 marsh with the Florida gallinule, eating the same food, nesting 

 in the same manner, cackling like a chicken, in fact sharing 

 nearly all its cousin's habits, its gorgeous plumage alone giving 

 it distinction. 



American Coot 



(Fulica americana) 



Called also: WHITE-BILLED COOT; CINEROUS COOT; MUD 

 HEN; CROW DUCK; BLUE PETER; MOOR HEN; 

 MEADOW HEN 



Length 14 to 16 inches. 



Male and Female General color slate; very dark on head and 

 neck, lighter on under parts; edge of wing, tips of secon- 

 daries, and space below tail, white. Bill ivory white; two 

 brownish spots near tip, the same shade as the horny plate 

 on front of head, which is a characteristic mark of both 

 gallinules and coots. Legs and feet pale green, the latter 

 with scalloped lobes. 



Range North America at large, from Greenland and Alaska to 

 the West Indies and Central America; nesting throughout 

 range, but more rarely on Atlantic coast. 



Season Resident in the south ; chiefly a spring and autumn mi- 

 grant at the north, April, May; September to November. 



More aquatic than any of its kin, the coot delights in the 

 swimming and diving feats of a grebe, and appears to be the 

 connecting link between the swimmers, with whom it was 

 formerly classed, owing to its lobed toes. What these toes lack 

 in width is amply made up in length, the fact that makes the 



1 86 



