i{.\[j.i!).i:— TiiK ifAiT.s. n.M,Li,vrr.i:s, and toots. 9>7 



part of Iho riiikcMl tibia- scarlet. Young: ISimilar, but frontal Hhic.-id nulimi'ntary, tho bill 

 brownish, paler at the tip; tho whole lower parts sulTusod with vvhitisli. and tho head 

 mixed with th ■ siimc. particularly tho throat, whi h is aometime.s wholly white. Stripes 

 on the Hanks less distinct or ut-arly obsolete. Doiony Yoimo: Glossy bliuik, the median 

 lower parts fuliginous; tliroat and cheeks interspersed with silvery white hairs; bill yel- 

 lowish (red in life?) crossed about the middle by a dusky bar. 



Total lenKth. about 12.(i0-i:i.00 inches; extent, 2(t.00 to 21.(K); wing. G.W-7.2."): oulmen (to end 

 of frontal shield) 1.70-1.8.".; tarsus, 2.1(>-2.;j«; middle toe, 2.50-2.r.o. 



Tlii.s species iiiiu'h resembles the Moor-hen, Water-lien, or Gal- 

 liniilc of iMiropo {G. chloropus), l)ut is larger, has the frontal 

 shield truncated instead of pointed posteriorly, and is other- 

 wise different. It likewise resembles other exotic species, par- 

 ticularly G. gannanl of the Peruvian Andes, but is quite dis- 

 tinct. Specimens vary a great deal in the size and shape of the 

 frontal shield, and in the amount of white on the abdomen. 

 These variations are by no means dependent on locality, how- 

 ever, but upon the individual, having- doubtless some connec- 

 tion with age and season, the wiiite on the abdomen being- 

 more marked on winter specimens. 



Although in most places less numerous than the Coot {Fii- 

 Uca americana), the Florida Gallinule is, in favorable localities, 

 a common summer resident throughout the State. Mr. Nelson 

 bears witness to its abundance in Cook county, and in his ex- 

 cellent list gives us the following information concerning it : 



"Abundant summer resident everywhere in marshes and the 

 larger prairie sloughs. Arrives the last of April or the first of 

 May. Generally has a full set of eggs, numbering from seven 

 to twelve, the first week of June. Its nests are placed wherever 

 fancy dictates; on low ridges a rod or more from the water; 

 in perfectly bare situations on the borders of marshes, or in 

 the midst of bulrushes oi- wild i-ice growing in several feet of 

 water. The material used varies with the situation, from fine 

 grasses to the coarsest rushes and fragments of wild rice stalks. 

 In the latter case the nest often floats in the water and is held 

 in place by the surrounding reeds. The young possess the 

 usual black dow'n and dispro])ortionate feet of members of this 

 family at an early age, but the basal two thirds of the bill is 

 bright red, the tip only being yellow. I have ])laced eggs tinder 

 a hen, but the young, unless removed as soon as hatched, 

 would scramble out and manage to get away. At this age 

 they have a clear metallic peep, quite unlike that of a chicken." 



