PYGOPODES. 



361 



joint 6| to 6 inches) . The central under tail-coverts are black, but 

 the lateral ones are white. 



Figures : Dresser, Birds of Europe, vii. pi. 503. 



The Water-Hen is a resident in aU the Japanese Islands (Blakiston 

 and Pryer, Ibis, 1878, p. 225). There are four examples in the 

 Pryer collection from Yokohama, and three from the Loo-Choo 

 Islands (Seebohm, Ibis, 1887, p. 180). Prom the last-named locality 

 it was obtained by the Perry Expedition in 1854 (Cassin, Exp. Am. 

 Squad. China Seas and Japan, ii. p. 245) . 



The Water- Hen is a circumpolar species, and is very common in 

 the British Islands. 



Suborder XXX. PYGOPODES. 



The Grebes and the Divers possess the following characters, which 

 are not combined in any other bird : — 



Cnemial process of tibia produced forwards to a remarkable degree; 

 posterior processes of the ilium approximated to such an extent that 



Femur and front part of tibia. 



the sacrum is almost entirely concealed; spinal feather-tract not 

 defined on the neck ; palate schizognathous. 



The Pygopodes consist of two families. The ColymUdce contain 

 only four species, which are confined during the breeding-season to 



