252 



AVES— ORDER RALLIFORMES. 



Tlie Water-Hens. 

 — Genus 



Gallinula. 



very interesting. One, 0. iwvcboracensis, is only found in North America ■ a 

 second, 0. exquisita, in Eastern Siberia and China ; a third, 0. notata in 

 Uruguay ; and a fourth, 0. ayresi, in South-Eastern Africa. 



Passing from the crakes to tlie water-hens, we find many varied forms 

 some of them flightless, as Fareudiastes pncijicus, the black water-hen of 

 Samoa, and the isolated water-hens of Tristan d'Acunha {Porphyriomis 

 nesiotis) and of Gough Island {P. comeri). All rails, isolated on any island 

 appear to become rapidly incapable of flight. They seem to be birds which 

 are always averse to taking wing, and doubtless for this reason the power of 

 flight soon disappears ; but they are, as a rule, perfectly able to take care of 

 themselves by running, or by concealing themselves in the grass. 



The water-hens are found all over the world, and are all very similar to our 

 own species, the " moor-hen," as it is frequently called {Gollinula chloropi.is). 

 They are birds of black plumage, and have a bare red shield 

 on the forehead. The most brilliant of all the rails are 

 the blue water-hens (Porphyrio), which are found all over 

 the Old World, from the Mediterranean over Africa, and 

 from India and China to Australia, They are very hand- 

 some birds, with bright red bills and red legs, contrasting with their blue and 

 green plumage, and in many places they are kept in confinement as orna- 

 mental fowl ; they are, however, somewhat destructive and mischievous. 

 The largest of the blue water-hens is the famous Notornis of New Zealand, 

 which is a giant form, incapable of flight, and believed to have become ex- 

 tinct during recent years. A fossil form of rail, Aptornis, also from New 

 Zealand, was at first believed to be a small kind of moa, which will give some 

 idea of its large size. 



These birds are remarkable for their stout bodies, bare frontal shield of 

 ivory-white or yellow, and, above all, for their curiously lobed toes. They 

 are found in nearly every 

 part of the globe, and several 

 species are met with in South 

 America. One of the most 

 curious of the ancient forms 

 was the extinct Lecjuatia gigantea of Mauri- 

 tius. 



These curious birds are intermediate be- 

 tween the rails and the grebes, and are chiefly 

 remarkable for their lobed 

 toes, which in the South 



American finfoot (Helioniis fuUca) are banded with black and 

 yellow. Whereas all the rails, as well as the water-hens 



The Coots. — 



Sub-family 



Fulicinm. 



The Fiufeet.— 



Family 

 Heliornithid(E. 



Fiij. 17. — The Ffsfoot. 

 {HcUornis futica). 



, as well as 

 and coots, have the nestlings clothed in black down, the young 

 finfoot is said to be hatched naked. At present very little is known about 

 these birds and their habits, and the above statement may turn out to be 

 incorrect. It certainly seems to be very unlikely that birds so obviously 

 connected with the rails and grebes should have anything but downy young. 

 There are three genera of the Heliornit.hidce—Poilica frolii Africa, Rdwpak 

 from Burma and Malacca, and Hdiuniis from South America. All the species 

 are very shy and diflicult of observation. The Senegal finfoot (Podica sme- 

 gcilensis) was found by Mr. Buttikofer in Liberia, and his is apparently the 

 only record of the habiis of the birds. They swim about in pairs, and do not 

 seek to escape by diving, like the rails or grebes, but simply by concealing 



