BRITISH BIRDS. 143 



THE SPOTTED GALLINULE. 



SPOTTED RAIL. 



(Gallinula Porzana, Lath. Poulc d can marouette, 

 Ternm.) 



WEIGHS above four ounces, and measures nearly 

 nine inches in length, and about fifteen in breadth. 

 Bill greenish yellow, and not more than three quar- 

 ters of an inch long. Top of the head to the nape 

 dusky, slightly streaked with rusty brown ; a 

 brown and white mottled stripe passes from the bill 

 over and behind the eyes; cheeks and throat 

 freckled dull grey. Neck and breast olive, marked 

 with small white spots; sides dusky and olive, 

 crossed with bars of white, and the under parts are 

 a mixture of cinereous dirty white and yellow. 

 The plumage of all the upper parts is dusky and 

 olive brown, spotted, edged, barred or streaked 

 with white; spots on the wing coverts surrounded 

 with black, which gives them a studded or pearly 

 appearance; and the white bars and streaks on the 



