164 



FULICARlrt. 



RALLIED. 



BALLIDjfi. 



GALLINULA CHLOROPUS (Linnaeus *). 

 THE MOOK-HEN, 



OR WATER-HEN. 



Gallinula chloropus. 



GALLINULA, Brisson t. Bill thick at the base, compressed, slightly swollen 

 towards the tip, subconic, as short as the head. Upper mandible convex, with 

 the culmen extended and dilated, forming a naked, oblong frontal plate or 

 shield ; lateral furrow wide ; mandibles of nearly equal length ; angle of the 

 lower one ascending. Nostrils lateral, pervious, pierced in the membrane of 

 the furrow in the middle of the bill ; longitudinal and linear. Wings short, 

 concave, rounded, armed with a small, sharp, recumbent spine. Legs strong, 

 naked for a short space above the tarsal joint ; scutellated in front ; reticulated 

 behind ; feet four-toed, three before and one behind ; toes long, divided and 

 bordered through their whole length by a narrow entire membrane. 



THE MOOR-HEN is one of those well-known, half- domesti- 

 cated species which afford interesting opportunities for ob- 

 servations on habits. Dr. William Turner, writing in 1544, 

 calls this bird a Water-hen, or a Mot-hen ; and Pennant says, 

 that in the days of moated houses they were very frequent 



* Fulica chloropus, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 258 (1766). 

 f Ornithologie, vi. p. 3 (1760). 



