296 The Water-fowl Family 



shore, always on the alert, at the first suspicion of 

 danger darting back to cover, only taking flight 

 when absolutely forced. The movements of this 

 bird on the ground, as it runs over the leaves and 

 marshy tangles of the water's surface, are quick 

 and graceful, and the brilliancy of its plumage 

 remarkable. The note is loud but not specially 

 characteristic. The purple gallinule feeds on 

 worms, snails, and various vegetable matter, and 

 from its fondness for the plantain, goes sometimes 

 by the name of plantain coot, and as carpenter 

 coot, from the noise the bird makes in breaking 

 the shells of small snails against pieces of timber. 

 The flesh is not particularly good. Occasionally 

 the bird is seen contented in captivity. 



FLORIDA GALLINULE 

 (Gallinula galeatd) 



Adult male and female — Head, neck, and entire lower parts, dark 

 lead color, often nearly black on the head and neck, lighter on 

 the abdomen ; crissum, white ; feathers of the flanks broadly 

 edged with white ; edge of the wing and edge of outer primary, 

 white ; upper parts, brownish, darkest on the rump ; bill and 

 frontal shield, scarlet, the tip of bill, yellowish ; iris, brown ; 

 legs and feet, greenish yellow ; upper part of the tibia?, scarlet. 



Young — Similar, but with smaller frontal shield ; the entire lower 

 parts, whitish, most noticeable on the throat ; white stripes on 

 the flanks less marked. 



Downy young — Glossy black; centre of abdomen, sooty; white 

 hairs on throat ; bill, yellow, crowned by dark bar. 



Measurements — Length, 12.50 inches; wing, 7 inches; culmen, 

 1.75 inches; tarsus, 2.25 inches. 



