204 WADING BIRDS. 



Either this bird has increased the limit of its range since Nuttall 

 stallced our marshes, or the modern bird-hunter is provided with in- 

 creased power of observation, l<eener vision, and more accurate 

 perception, for recent reports concerning the distribution of tlie 

 Gallinule differ considerably from Nuttall's account. 



It is true the Florida Gallinule is at home in the tropical por- 

 tions of the continent, but it occurs regularly and in numbers 

 throughout the warm temperate area north to New England and 

 Canada, and west to the Mississippi valley. It is quite common 

 on Cape Cod, and nests have been found near Fresh Pond, Cam- 

 bridge, and in Vermont. 



A few stragglers only have visited the Maritime Provinces; but 

 the bird breeds in numbers in Ontario, and is not uncommon around 

 Ottawa and Montreal. In Illinois and Wisconsin it is quite common. 

 But it is a shy and retiring bird, leaving its haunts amid the ranii 

 marsh-grass and the rushes only when impelled by the migratory 

 instinct, and then the bird steals off under cover of the darkness. 



In an interesting contribution to "The Auk," Mr. Brewster 

 tells us that the movements of this Gallinule when walking or swim- 

 ming is peculiarly graceful, but when on the wing its appearance is 

 ludicrously awkward. 



The notes of the bird are numerous and of great variety of tone 

 and compass, varying from a harsh scream to a low hen-like cluck. 

 " Speaking generally," writes Mr. Brewster, " the notes were all loud, 

 harsh, and discordant, and nearly all curiously hen-like." He adds, 

 " I certainly know of no other bird which utters so many different 

 sounds." Some of the notes are like a drawling ke'e-ar-r, kreS-ar-r j 

 or more rapidly uttered they produce a sound like kr-r-r-r-r, and 

 are varied with kruc-kruc, or a low kloc-kloc. At times a note like 

 ticket-ticket-ticket-ticket is heard, and again a single abrupt explosive 

 kup like the cry of a startled frog. 



