﻿BIRDS 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  285 
  

  

  Length 
  12-14 
  inches; 
  extent 
  20-23; 
  wing 
  6.5-7.5; 
  tail 
  3; 
  tarsus 
  2.25; 
  

   middle 
  toe 
  and 
  claw 
  3; 
  bill, 
  including 
  frontal 
  shield, 
  i. 
  7-1.8 
  5, 
  from 
  rear 
  

   of 
  nostril 
  .80. 
  

  

  The 
  Florida 
  gallinule 
  is 
  a 
  fairly 
  common 
  summer 
  resident 
  in 
  the 
  more 
  

   extensive 
  marshes 
  of 
  central 
  and 
  western 
  New 
  York 
  and 
  the 
  Ontario-St 
  

   Lawrence 
  valley, 
  but 
  does 
  not 
  seem 
  to 
  occur 
  except 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  places 
  in 
  the 
  

   coastal 
  district, 
  or 
  through 
  the 
  Hudson 
  valley. 
  It 
  has 
  recently 
  been 
  found 
  to 
  

   be 
  a 
  common 
  breeder 
  in 
  the 
  marshes 
  of 
  Newark, 
  N. 
  J., 
  and 
  Long 
  Island 
  City. 
  

   In 
  the 
  Hudson-Champlain 
  valley 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  neglected 
  species, 
  and 
  records 
  have 
  

   been 
  made 
  only 
  at 
  Ossining, 
  Highland 
  Falls, 
  Green 
  Island, 
  and 
  Lake 
  Bomoseen, 
  

   Vt., 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  undoubtedly 
  well 
  established 
  in 
  all 
  large 
  marshes 
  of 
  that 
  region. 
  

   In 
  the 
  Montezuma 
  marshes 
  it 
  reaches 
  its 
  greatest 
  abundance 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  

   State, 
  and 
  hundreds 
  of 
  broods 
  are 
  annually 
  reared, 
  the 
  greater 
  portion 
  of 
  

   which 
  are 
  destroyed 
  by 
  gunners 
  at 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  shooting 
  season. 
  

  

  The 
  Florida 
  gallinule 
  arrives 
  from 
  the 
  south 
  from 
  the 
  20th 
  to 
  the 
  30th 
  

   of 
  April 
  and 
  departs 
  from 
  the 
  15th 
  to 
  the 
  30th 
  of 
  October. 
  Soon 
  after 
  

   arriving 
  the 
  birds 
  pair 
  and 
  construct 
  their 
  nests 
  amidst 
  the 
  dense 
  growth 
  

   of 
  flags 
  or 
  marsh 
  grass. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  bulky 
  structure 
  composed 
  of 
  dead 
  grass 
  

   and 
  flags. 
  The 
  eggs, 
  which 
  are 
  deposited 
  from 
  May 
  25 
  to 
  June 
  20, 
  are 
  from 
  

   8 
  to 
  14 
  in 
  number 
  of 
  a 
  buff 
  or 
  brownish 
  white 
  color, 
  spotted 
  and 
  dyed 
  with 
  

   brown 
  and 
  neutral 
  shell 
  markings. 
  They 
  average 
  1.75 
  x 
  1.2 
  inches 
  in 
  size. 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  the 
  common 
  American 
  gallinule, 
  or 
  Red-billed 
  mud 
  hen, 
  of 
  the 
  

   gunners, 
  which 
  is 
  responsible 
  for 
  the 
  greater 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  henlike 
  notes 
  

   heard 
  from 
  the 
  dense 
  coverts 
  of 
  the 
  marshes. 
  They 
  are 
  frequently 
  seen 
  

   swimming 
  across 
  the 
  open 
  spaces 
  among 
  the 
  reeds, 
  but 
  do 
  not 
  live 
  on 
  the 
  

   water 
  as 
  generally 
  as 
  the 
  coots. 
  Mr 
  Brewster 
  gives 
  a 
  fine 
  description 
  of 
  

   their 
  notes: 
  

  

  Like 
  the 
  rails 
  they 
  are 
  given 
  to 
  skulking 
  among 
  the 
  grass 
  or 
  

   flags 
  but 
  at 
  morning 
  and 
  evening 
  we 
  occasionally 
  see 
  them 
  swimming 
  

   across 
  pools 
  or 
  ditches, 
  their 
  brilliant 
  scarlet 
  bills 
  and 
  frontal 
  shields 
  

   flashing 
  in 
  the 
  level 
  beams 
  of 
  the 
  rising 
  or 
  declining 
  sun. 
  They 
  are 
  

   noisy 
  birds 
  at 
  this 
  season 
  and 
  some 
  of 
  their 
  cries 
  are 
  second 
  only 
  to 
  

   those 
  of 
  the 
  Bittern 
  in 
  strength 
  and 
  grotesqueness. 
  One 
  of 
  their 
  common- 
  

  

  