3 2 4 



The Crane-like Birds 



to seize some tempting morsel. On land he walked like a Rail, threading his 

 way deftly among the stems of the bushes and tall rushes, stepping daintily, 

 lifting and putting his feet down slowly, and almost incessantly picking up his 

 tail with a quick, nerVous motion which caused the under coverts to flash like the 

 sudden flirt of a handkerchief. As he picked his food from the vegetation at 

 his feet, the head and neck were shot forward and downward at intervals of 

 about a second, with a peculiarly vivid, eager motion. His manner of walking 

 and feeding also suggested that of the Guinea-hen, the body being carried low 

 and in a crouching attitude, while the movements of the head partook of that 

 furtive swiftness which is so characteristic of this barnyard fowl." These Galli- 

 nules are very noisy birds, particularly during the nesting season, and have a 

 great variety of calls, one of the most common being a loud, explosive chuck. 

 All the notes, however, are "loud, harsh, and discordant, and nearly all curiously 

 hen-like." The nest is a rather unsubstantial structure of reeds and grasses, 

 usually raised a few inches above the shallow water surrounding it, and but 

 slightly hollowed. The eggs are from eight to thirteen in number, buffy white 

 spotted and speckled with brownish. 



Moor-hen. Closely allied to the last is the Moor-hen, or Water-hen (G. 

 chloropus), of the Old World, being, however, slightly smaller and with the 

 frontal shield truncated instead of pointed at the back. It is an abundant bird 

 in the British Islands, where, according to Hudson, if "it is not molested, and 

 the stream, or pond, or ditch it inhabits is close to the homestead, it becomes 



almost domestic in its habits, and will freely 

 mix with the poultry and share their food." 

 Otherwise it has similar habits and frequents 

 much the same localities as the Florida 

 Gallinule, building a similar nest among 

 the reeds or rushes. Two or three broods 

 are reared in a season, and "it has been 

 observed that the young of the first brood 

 sometimes assists the parents in making a 

 new nest and in rearing the young of the 

 second brood." Other species to the num- 

 ber of half a dozen are found in South 

 America, Africa, Australia, Oceanica, etc. 



Purple Gallinules. Similar to Galli- 

 nula, but having a more slender form and 

 oval rather than slit-like nostrils, are the 

 beautiful Purple Gallinules, of which sev- 

 eral genera are recognized, all with handsome plumage of chiefly opaque 

 blue, purple, and green. The American Purple Gallinule (lonornis martinico), 

 mainly of tropical and warm temperate America, is about twelve and one half 

 inches long, with the upper parts a bright olive-green, brighter on the wings, 

 and the head, neck, and lower parts dark, rich purplish blue. The frontal 

 shield in life is bright blue, the bill bright red tipped with yellow, the iris crim- 



FIG. 105. Purple Gallinule, lonornis 

 martinica. 



