188 GRALLATORES. GALLINULA. GALLINULE 
Plumage soft, thick, but loose in texture. Body com- 
pressed at the sides. 
The Gallinules differ from the preceding genus in having 
the culmen of the upper mandible dilated in a plate-like 
form upon the forehead, and in having their toes bordered, 
for the whole of their length, by a narrow unbroken mem- 
brane. Their habits are also more aquatic, being more fre- 
quently seen upon the water, where they;swim and dive with 
facility, and in which element they procure a principal part 
of their food. In affinity, they stand nearly allied to the 
genus Crex on the one hand, and to those of Porphyrio and 
Fulica on the other. With them the body is compressed, 
but not to so great a degree as in the Rails and Crakes. 
They run swiftly, and, when danger threatens, hide them- 
selves in reeds, sedges, holes in river banks, &c. They 
breed in the neighbourhood of water, frequently founding 
the nest upon floating weeds or drift bushes, and lay several 
eggs. Their food consists of insects, worms, slugs, vege- 
tables, and seeds. 
COMMON GALLINULE. 
GartitinutéA Cuiororus, Lath. 
PLATE XXXI. 
Gallinula Chloropus, Lath. Ind> Ornith. 2. 770. sp. 13.—Steph. Shaw’s 
Zool. 12. 242. pl. 30.—Flem. Br. Anim. 1. 99. sp. 130. 
Fulica Chloropus, Linn. Syst. 1. 258. 4.—Gmel. Syst. 1. 698. 
Gallinula Chloropus major, Raii Syn. p. 113. A. 1.—Briss. Ornith. 6. 3. 1. 
t. 1.— Will. 233. t. 58. 
Poule d’Eau, Buff: Ois. 8. 171. t. 15.—Jd. pl. Enl. 877. 
Poule d’Eau ordinaire, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. 2. 693. 
Grunfussiger Rhorhuhn, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. 4. 489.—Meyer, 'Taschenb. 
Deut. 2. 410. 
Common Water-Hen, or Moor-Hen, Will. (Angl.) 312. 58.—Albin. Birds, 
2. pl. 72. 3. pl. 91.—Bewick’s Br. Birds, 2. 128. 
Common Gallinule, Penn. Br. Zool. 2. 217. pl. 77.—Arct. Zool. 2. 411.— 
Lath. Syn. 5. 258. 12.—Lewin’s Br. Birds, 5. pl. 191.—Waile. Syn. 2. pl. 
169.—Mont. Ornith. Dict. 1—Shaw’s Zool. 12. 242.—<-/lem. Br. Anim. 1. 
99. sp. 130. 
