COOT 185 



BEAK. Yellow towards the tip, and bright red at the 

 base ; ' frontal plate ' same colour. 



FEET. Greenish-yellow, with a red band just above the 

 heel ; toes, long and slender. 



IRIDES. Bright reddish-brown. 



AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 



TOTAL LENGTH 13 in. 



WING 6-75 



BEAK 1'5 



TARSO-METATARSUS ... ... 1*75 ,, 



EGG ... 1-65 x 1-2 in. 



Allied Species and Representative Forms. The Water- 

 hen, which inhabits Madagascar and some of the adjacent 

 Islands, is somewhat different from our own bird, while that 

 found in the Tristan da Cunha group is a distinct species, 

 called G. nesiotis. G. galeata is the American, and G. 

 sandvicencis the Hawaiian Islands' representative. G. tene- 

 brosa, without white streaks on the flanks, is the Australian 

 bird (Saunders). 



Note. " The Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio ccerulens), the 

 Green-backed Gallinule (P. smaragdonotus), the Indian 

 P. poliocephalus and the Australian P. melanotus, are 

 frequently kept in semi-captivity, and individuals which 

 have escaped, or which have been deliberately turned out, 

 have from time to time been captured in our Islands. The 

 bird from the south-west of Ireland recorded by Thompson 

 as a " Martinique Gallinule," has proved to be P. smaragdo- 

 notus, but there is said to be a genuine example of the 

 American species in Mr. Hart's Museum at Christchurch " 

 (Saunders). 



COOT. Fulica atra (Linnaeus). 



Coloured Figures. Gould, ' Birds of Great Britain,' vol. iv, pi. 

 84 ; Dresser, Birds of Europe,' vol. vii, pi. 504 ; Lilford, 

 ' Coloured Figures,' vol. iv, pi. 63. 



The Coot, another familiar and common species in 

 suitable localities in the British Isles, is even more strongly 

 aquatic in its habits than the Water-hen. Unlike the 



