GALLINULIN^E. GALLINULA. FULICA. 117 



214. GALLINULA CHLOROPUS. GREEN-FOOTED GALLINULE. 



Plumage of the head, neck, and lower parts dark grey, of 

 the back and wings deep olive-brown ; edge of the wing and 

 lower tail-coverts white ; oblong frontal plate and bill to be- 

 yond the nostrils crimson-red, the tips greenish-yellow ; feet 

 dull green, with a ring of bright red on the tibia. Young 

 similar, but with the frontal plate small, and the feathers of 

 the lower parts edged with white. 



Male, 13, 22, 7, If, 2, 2 T \, T V Female, 12^, 2(XJ. 



This bird is found in all parts of Britain and Ireland that 

 are adapted to its nature ; that is, in marshy places, pools, 

 lakes, still streams, mill-dams, and even ditches, where it 

 searches for food chiefly among the reeds and other aquatic 

 plants along the shores. It swims with great ease and ele- 

 gance, sitting lightly on the water, with its neck erect^ and 

 its tail obliquely raised ; dives with equal facility, and on 

 land runs with great speed. When surprised it dives and re- 

 mains. concealed with only the bill above the surface, or hides 

 among the herbage or under a bank. It often perches on 

 stumps or trunks of willows, on which also it sometimes forms 

 its nest, which, however, is usually placed on the ground, 

 among reeds, or in the water, and is very bulky. The eggs, 

 from six to eight or ten, are ovate or nearly elliptical, an inch 

 and three-fourths in length, an inch and a quarter in breadth, 

 pale greyish-yellow, or greyish-brown, dotted and spotted 

 with deep brown. The young, at first covered with long stif- 

 fish, black down, leave the nest soon after they are hatched. 

 The flesh of this species is \\liite, often loaded with fat, and 

 affords tolerably pleasant eating. 



Moor Hen. Marsh Hen. Stank Hen. 



Fulica Chloropus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 258. Gallinula 

 Chloropus, Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 770. Gallinula Chloropus, 

 Temm. Man. d'Ornith, ii. 693. Gallinula Chloropus, Green- 

 footed Water-Hen, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds. 



GENUS CXII. FULICA. COOT. 



The Coots differ from the Gallinules chiefly in having the 

 toes furnished with a broad scolloped membrane. They are 

 of moderate size, with the body compressed, but full ; the 

 neck of ordinary length ; the head rather small, and com- 

 pressed. Bill not exceeding the head in length, stout, taper- 



