148 



BRITISH BIRDS. 



THE COMMON GALLINULE. 



WATER HEX, OR MOOR HEX. 



(Gallmula Chloropus, Lath. Ponlc-d'cau ordinaire, 

 Temm.) 



THE weight of this bird varies from ten and a 

 half to fifteen ounces: the length from the tip of 

 the beak to the end of the tail is about fourteen 

 inches, the breadth twenty-two. The bill is rather 

 more than an inch long, of a greenish yellow at the 

 tip, and reddish towards the base, whence a sin- 

 gular kind of horny or membraneous substance 

 shields the forehead as far as the eyes : this 

 appendage to the bill is as red as sealing wax in 

 the breeding season; at other times it varies or 

 fades into white. The head is small and black, 



