THE NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY. 6l 



The range of this species includes the whole of tropical and 

 warm-temperate America as far south as Brazil. It is occa- 

 sionally reported as far north as Maine, New York and Wis- 

 consin. 



Genus GALUNULA Brisson, 1760. 



Gallinula galeata (Licht.). Florida Gallinule. 



Crex galeata T ,ICHT. ? Yerz. Doubl., 1823, 80, No. 826. 

 Gallinula galeata BONAPARTE, Amer. Orn., IV, 1832, 128. 

 Gallinula chloropus ( LINNAEUS), var. galeata LIGHT., of some authors. 

 Popular synonyms: AMERICAN GALLINULE. MUD-HEN. RED-BILLED 

 MUD-HEN. 



A common summer resident in all of our marshes, arriving in 

 April and nesting the middle of May. It builds a cup-shaped 

 nest similar to that of the King Rail, generally placing it among 

 the heavy growth of rushes. The Gallinules usually depart in 

 the fall early in September. Mr. E. W. Nelson gives the follow- 

 ing interesting account of their habits within our district :* 



"Generally has a full set of eggs, numbering from seven to 

 twelve, the first week in June. Its nests are placed wherever 

 fancy dictates ; on low ridges a rod or more from the water ; in 

 perfectly bare situations on the borders of marshes, or in the 

 midst of the bulrushes or wild rice growing in several feet of 

 water. The material used varies with the situation, from fine 

 grasses to the coarsest rushes and fragments of wild rice stalks. 

 In the latter case the nest often floats in the water and is held 

 in place by the surrounding reeds. The young possess the usual 

 black down and disproportionate feet of members of this family 

 at an early age, but the basal two-thirds of the bill is bright red, 

 the tip only, being yellow. I have placed eggs under a hen, 

 but the young, unless removed as soon as hatched, would scram- 

 ble out and manage to get away. At this a*ge they have a clear 

 metallic peep, quite unlike that of a chicken." 



The range of the Florida Gallinule includes the whole of 

 tropical and temperate America, extending from Canada to 

 Brazil and Chili. 



Genus FULICA Linnaeus, 1758. 



Fulica americana Gmelin. American Coot. 



Fulica americana GMELIN, S. N., I, ii. 1788, 704. 



Fulica wilsoni STEPHENS, Shaw's Gen. Zool., XII, 1824, 236. 



*Birds of Northeastern Illinois. Bull, of the Essex Institute, Vol. VIII, 1876, 135. 



