AFRICAN FINFOOT. 21 



are sharp and bent. There are but two species known, 

 both of which inhabit the torrid regions of the globe, 

 one occurring in the old, and the other in the new 

 world : they affect the banks of rivers and creeks, and 

 feed upon small fish and insects. 



The situation of this genus is very difficult to de- 

 termine : in some respects the individuals of which it 

 is composed resemble the Grebes, and in others the 

 Coots or Rails : again, the long neck of one of the 

 species appears to connect that bird with the Darters : 

 unlike the rest of the Colyinbidse, they do not dive. 



AFRICAN FINFOOT. 



(Podoa Senegalensis.) 



Po. corpore supra Jitsca, sicbtus albo, colli laleribus dorsoque 

 nigro maculatis, cauda cuneiformi, rigidd, angustd, rostro 

 pedibusque rubris. 



Finfoot with the body brown above and white beneath, the sides 

 of the neck and back spotted with black, the tail wedge- 

 shaped, rigid, and narrow, the beak and legs red. 



Heliornis Senegalensis. Vieill. 2 Edit, du Nouv. Diet, d' Hist. 

 Nat. torn. 14. p. 271. 



African Finfoot. Lath. Gen. Hist. x. 10. 



This species has the head, the upper part of the 

 neck and of the body, the wings and the tail, brown ; 

 the colour being dullest on the head and upper part 

 of the neck ; the sides of the last, as well as those of 

 the back and the flanks, are spotted with black : a 



