GRALLATORIA. 359 
Fuxica, Briss. 
The true Coots, in addition to a short bill and a large frontal shield, 
have their toes much widened by.a festooned border that renders them 
excellent ‘swimmers, in consequence of which their lives are passed in 
ponds and marshes. ‘Their polished plumage is not less adapted to this 
kind of life than their conformation, and these birds establish an evident 
link between the order of the Grallatorie and that of the Palmipedes. 
There is but one in Europe. 
F, atra, F. aterrima, and F. ethiops, Gm.; La Foulque, Enl. 
197, Frisch, 208; Naum. 30, f.40. (The Coot). The shield of 
a deep slate colour; edge of the wings whitish; in the nuptial season 
the shield becomes red: found wherever there is a pond*, 
We shall terminate this sketch of the Grallatorize with three genera, 
which it is difficult to associate with any other, and which may be consi- 
dered as forming separately so many small families. 
Cuionts, Foster.—VacGinatis, Lath. 
Or the Sheath-Bills. Their legs are short, almost like those of the Gal- 
linacee; their tarsi scutellated, their bill stout and conical, having a hard 
substance enveloping its base, which, it appears, the bird has the power 
of raising and depressing. 
Only one species is known, and that is from New Holland, Vag. 
Chionis, Lath. III, pl. 89, Chionis necropkaga, Vieill. Gal. 258. It 
is the size of a Partridge, with entirely white plumage. It haunts 
the sea-coast, where it feeds on the dead animals thrown up by the 
waves. 
GLAREOLA. 
The bill of the Pratincoles or Sea Partridges is short, conical, arcuated 
throughout, has a large ‘opening, and resembles that of the Gallinacee. 
Their excessively long and pointed wings remind us of the Swallows +, or 
of the Palmipedes of the high seas; their legs are of a moderate length, 
their tarsi scutellated, and their external toes somewhat palmated; their 
thumb touches the ground. Aquatic worms and insects constitute their 
food. The Enropean species, 
Glar. austriaca, En). 882; Glar. pratincola, Leach, Lin. Trans. 
XIII, pl. xii; Naum. 29, f. 59, is brown above, white beneath and 
on the rump; a black circle round the throat; feet and base of the 
melanotos, T.);—the T. meunier (P. pulverulenius, T.), Col. 405;—the T. emeraudine 
(P. smaragdinus, T.), Col. 421; the T. blanche (P. albus, L.), Philip., Voy. to Bot. 
Bay, p. 273; J. White, p. 238. 
* Add the Coot of Madagascar (Ful. cristata, Gm.), Enl. 797; Vieill. Gal. 269 (a). 
{+ Linneus (Edit. XII) even placed the common species in the genus Hirundo, 
under the name of Hir. pratincola. 
a> (a) Add also I’. americana, Gm.; Wils. UX, pl. Ixxiii, f. 1.—Ene. Ep. 
Fr 2 
