682 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



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Dr. Langdon says: "Dr. Hunt informs me of the capture of this spe- 

 cies near the mouth of the Big Miami Eiver on March 31, 1877,"" 

 (Cat, Birds Vic. Cin., 1877, p. 16). The mouth of the river men- 

 tioned is in Indiana, but I do not know the location of the site where 

 the specimen was taken. Three other specimens are noted from the 

 vicinity of Cincinnati that same spring. It was taken near Circleville 

 May 10, 1877. (Wheaton, Birds of Ohio, p. 514.) Prof. E. L. 

 Moseley informs me of the capture of a Purple Gallinule near 

 Sandusky, 0., April 28, 1896 (The Auk, Vol. XIV, No. 2, April, 

 1897, p. 200). Mr. Thomas Mcllwraith notes the capture of a speci- 

 men at Pickering, Ontario, in April, 1892 (Birds of Ontario, 1894, 

 p.^ 123). The nest is made in the tall grass along the edges of water 

 courses, bending the grass down and weaving it together. In South 

 Carolina the nest is said to be built in rushes over the water. Besides 

 its true nest, the bird makes several "shams," often as many as five 

 or six (Davie). The bird may be readily recognized by its bright 

 purplish-blue colors. 



40. GENUS GALLINULA BBISSON. 



*82. (219). Gallinula galeata (LIGHT.). 



Florida Gallinule. 



Head, neck and underparts, grayish-black, darkest on the head, 

 paler or whitening on the belly; back, brownish-olive; wings and tail,, 

 dusky; crissum, edge of wing and stripes on the flank, white; bill, fron- 

 tal plate and ring around tibiae, red, the former tipped with yellow; 

 tarsi and toes, greenish. Downy Young. Glossy black, throat and' 

 cheeks, with silvery-white hairs. 



Length, 12.00-14.50; wing, 6.85-7.25; bill (to end of frontal shield),. 

 1.70-1.85; tarsus, 2.10-2.30. 



RANGE. America, from Brazil and Chili north to Maine, Ontario 

 and Minnesota. Breeds from that limit south. Winters from Gulf 

 States south. 



Nest, of reeds and rushes on foundation of similar growth, near 

 water level in marshes, sloughs or reedy places in lakes. Eggs, 8-13; 

 brownish-buff, thickly spotted with reddish-brown; 1.74 by 1.19. 



Regular migrant. Summer resident among the more extensive 

 swamps and marshes. Locally common; some places abundant. 

 Breeds. 



It is resident throughout the Southern States, and our summer birds 

 return south and many winter in the same region. They come north' 

 in spring, through April and early May. The earliest record I have is 



