WATER BIRDS. 161 
83. Purple Gallinule. Ionornis martinicus (Linn.). (218) 
Synonyms: Sultana (Jamaica).—Fulica martinica, Linn., 1766.—Gallinula martinica, 
Lath., Aud., Nutt., Baird—Gallinula porphyrio, Wils., 1824.—Porphyrio americanus, 
Swains., 1837.—Ionornis martinica, Reich., 18538, Ridgw., 1881, Coues, 1882. 
The light blue wings, dark blue head, neck, and breast, green-tipped 
red bill, and yellow legs, form a combination which makes the adult un- 
mistakable. The young might be confused with those of the Common 
Gallinule. 
Distribution.—South Atlantic and Gulf States, casually northward to 
Maine, New York, Wisconsin, etc.; south through the West Indies, Mexico, 
Central America, and northern South America to Brazil. 
There are but three or four records for this species in Michigan, so far 
as we know, and none is entirely satisfactory. Stockwell says “ Accidental 
visitor in Michigan” (Forest & Stream, VIII, 361); Covert has a marginal 
note in his copy of Coues Key to the effect that a male was taken at Ann 
Arbor, August 12, 1879, but he does not remember any of the particulars 
of this capture, and the specimen cannot be located; Mr. B. H. Swales, 
of Detroit, writes under date of December 15, 1906 ‘‘There is a record that 
Dr. J. H. Garner of Lucknow, Ont., saw a Purple Gallinule at St. Clair Flats 
about ten years ago (about 1883) that was killed by some boys and examined 
by him but not preserved” (Biol. Rev. of Ont., Jan. 1894, p. 11). Campion 
(of Detroit) also says that he has mounted one specimen of the Purple 
Gallinule ‘from the Flats.” 
There are several records for Ontario, the most recent being that by 
A. B. Klugh, who states that one was taken in Wellington Co., Ontario, 
near Guelph, about 1894 (Ont. Nat. Sci. Bull. I, 3). 
In view of the abundance of the Florida or Common Gallinule, and the 
further fact that that bird is hardly known at all to the average sportsman, 
it seems likely that the newspaper reports and occasional notes in sporting 
magazines refer to the Common Gallinule rather than to the present species, 
especially as the Common Gallinule in full plumage always shows more or 
less purple gloss which would tend to deceive the amateur. The bird is 
abundant in Florida and the Gulf States where it associates with the 
Common Gallinule and seems to have much the same habits. 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
“Adult: Head, neck, and lower parts slaty bluish purple, darker on the belly and thighs; 
lower tail-coverts white; upper parts bright olive-green, changing to bright verditer blue 
toward the purple of the lower parts; wings brighter green than black, shaded with bright 
verditer blue; frontal shield dusky or bluish; bill bright red, tipped with yellow. Young: 
Above light brown, tinged with greenish on wings; beneath pale fulvous or buffy, the 
belly whitish; bill dull yellowish, and frontal shield much smaller than in adult. 
Length 12.50 to 14.00 inches; wing 7.00 to 7.50; culmen (including frontal shield) 
1.85 to 1.95; tarsus 2.25 to 2.50; middle toe 2.25 to 2.35.” (Ridgway). 
84. Florida Gallinule. Gallinula galeata (Licht.). (219) 
Synonyms: Gallinule, Common Gallinule, Water Hen, Mud Hen (St. Clair Flats and 
Detroit River), Red-billed Mud Hen.—Crex galeata, Licht., 1818.—Gallinula galeata of 
authors generally.—Gallinula chloropus, Bonap., 1828, Aud., 1835. 
Figures 44 and 48, 
Readily known by the general slate color, with the white under tail- 
coverts and a few white stripes along the sides. The red bill and the green 
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