BIRDS — SCOLOPACIDAE — FULICA AMERICANA. 751 



CKEX PBATENISIS, Bech stein. 



Corn-crake. 



Rallus crex, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 261.— Degland, Orn. Europ. 11, 1849, 266 

 Gallvnula crex, Latham, Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 766. 



Crex pratensis, Bechst. Gemein. Naturg. Deutsch. IV, 470. — Cassin, Pr. A. N. Sc. VII, Jan. 1855, 265. (New- 

 Jersey.) 



Sp. Ch. — Feathers above blackish brown , with brownish yellow edges, and without white spots. Quills and upper wing coverts 

 brownish red ; under wing coverts rust red. Bill shorter than the head, conical, elevated at the base. Wings reaching nearly 

 to the end of the tail. Outer primary edged externally with yellowish white ; flanks and beneath the tail banded with rufous 

 and whitish. 



Length about ten inches. 



JIdb. — Europe ; Greenland. Accidental on the Atlantic coast of the United States. 



The well known corn-crake of Europe has, on several occasions, been found on the eastern 

 coast of the United States, and is, therefore, entitled to mention here. It appears to he a con- 

 stant summer visitor to Grreenland, from which country it is probable that stragglers reach the 

 United States. 



FQLICA, Linnaeus. 



Fulica, Linn. Syst. Nat. 1735. Type Fulica atra, L. 



Ch. — Bill shorter than the head, straight, strong, compressed, and advancing into the feathers of the forehead, where it fre- 

 quently forms a wide and somewhat projecting frontal plate ; nostrils in a groove, with a large membrane near the middle of the 

 bill. Wings rather short, second and third quills usually longest ; tail very short ; tarsus robust, shorter than the middle toe, 

 with very distinct transverse scales; toes long, each toe having semicircular lobes, larger on the inner side of the toe ; hind toe 

 rather long, lobed. 



A very peculiar group, containing about ten or twelve species, all of which are of dark slate 

 color, and which considerably resemble each other. 



FULICA AMEKICANA, amelin. 

 Coot ; Foule d'eau ; Mud Hen. 



Fulica americana, Gm, Syst. Nat. 1, 1788, 704.— Bon. Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 234.— Aud. Orn. Biog. Ill, 1835, 291 : V, 

 568; pi. 239.— Ib. Syn. 212.— Ib. Birds Amer. VI, 1842, 138; pi. 305.— Hartlaub, Cab. 

 Jour. I, Extraheft fur 1853, 1854, 75 ; 87. 



Fulica wilsonii, Stephens, Shaw's Zool. XII, 1824, 236. — Brehm, Vog. Deutsehl. 1831, 711. 



Fulica atra, Wils. Am. Orn. IX, 1825, 61 ; pi. Ixxiii. 



? Fulica leucopyga, Wagler, Isis, 1831, 518. Mexico, 



Sp. Ch. — Head and neck glossy black, with a tinge of ashy ; under tail coverts white. Entire other plumage dark bluish 

 cinereous or slate color, with a tinge of olive on the back and darker on the rump. Edge of wing at shoulder and edge of first ■ 

 primary white ; secondary quills tipped with white ; rump frequently tinged with brownish. Bill very pale yellow or nearly 

 white, with a transverse band of brownish black near the end; tip white ; legs dull grayish green. Female similar, but with the 

 tints lighter. Young like the adult, but with the under parts lighter ; abdomen frequently ashy white ; back and rump dark 

 olive brown ; head and neck lighter. 



Total length about 14 inches ; wing, 7 ; tail, 2 inches. 



Hob. — Entire temperate regions of North America. 



This species is readily distinguishable from the European F. atra by the white on the crissum 

 and wings, the red frontal plate, &c. 



