FUL1CAGRUS 717 



structure of reeds, flags, &c., lined with finer materials, and is 

 generally placed amongst reeds or willows, and often in shallow 

 water. The eggs, 7 to 8, sometimes as many as 12, in number, 

 are usually deposited in May, and are yellowish grey or stone- 

 ochreous, dotted and marked with brownish black, and measure 

 about 2*08 by T48. 



In America our Coot is replaced by F. americana, which has 

 the lateral under tail-coverts white. 



1000. CRESTED COOT. 

 FULICA CRISTATA. 



Fulica cristata, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 704 (1788) ; Layard, B. of S. Afr. 

 p. 343 ; Dresser, vii. p. 323, pi. 504, fig. 1 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. 

 Mus. xxiii. p. 215 ; F. mitrata, Licht. Yerz. Vog. Kaffernland, p. 19 



(1842). 



Galeirdo, Portug. ; Mancon, Focha de cuernets, Span. ; Folaga 

 africana, Ital. 



<$ ad. (Spain). Differs from F. atra in lacking all white on the 

 secondaries, and in having two conspicuous red knobs at the base of the 

 frontal shield ; bill and frontal shield bluish white ; legs and feet greenish 

 brown ; iris blackish. Gape 1*4, wing 8'4, tail 2 '5, tarsus 2*65 inch. 

 Female similar but somewhat smaller, with the frontal knobs less 

 developed. 



Hob. The whole of Africa to Cape Colony ; Southern Portugal 

 and Spain, and the Balearic Isles, where it breeds ; of rare 

 occurrence in the south of France and Italy, but tolerably 

 common in Sardinia. 



Is said to resemble G-. cliloropus more than F. atra, both in its 

 general habits and choice of locality. It is shy and wary, and 

 trusts more to hiding and diving than to its wings for safety. 

 Its nest and eggs resemble those of F. atra, but the latter are 

 often darker than those of that species. In Southern Europe 

 it breeds in May, but in South Africa in December. 



GRTJS, Pall., 1767. 

 1001. COMMON CRANE. 



GRUS COMMUNIS. 



Grus communis, Bechst. Nnturg. Deutschl. iii. p. 60 (1793) ; Dresser, vii. 

 p. 337, pi. 505 ; Tegetmeier and Blyth, Nat. Hist. Cranes, p. 59 ; 

 Blanf. F. Brit. Ind. Birds, iv. p. 186 ; Blaauw, Monogr. Cranes, p. 1, 

 part i. and xvii. fig. 1 (egg) ; Saunders, p. 521 ; Lilford, iv. p. 151, 

 pi. 64 ; G. cinerea, Bechst. Naturg. Deutschl. iv. p. 103, tab. xix. 



