404 THE COMMON GALLINULE. 



scented water-nymph. No infant of a royal household 

 ever sported under a more beautiful canopy than is found 

 by these Gallinule-chicks, beneath the snowy wreath of 

 odorous petals and central crown of gold, standing like an 

 elegant sun-shade in that quiet nook which mirrors the 

 bluff and the surrounding landscape. 



The nest of the Common Gallinule is usually built on 

 shallow water, among the sedges and marsh-grass to which it 

 is fastened. About 10 or 12 inches in diameter, and continued 

 6 or 8 inches above the surface of the water, often with an. 

 inclination on one side, like a platform, for walking up from 

 the water, this elegant raft, made of the leaves of cat- 

 tails, sedges and marsh-grass, is neatly hollowed like a 

 saucer on the top, and contains 9-14 eggs, l.TSxl.SO— 

 1.85 X 1.25, more or less tinged with light-brown and specked 

 and spotted, especially around the large end, with a shade 

 of reddish-brown, often resembling iron-nist. 



Arrivi/ig here, from the region of the Gulf Coast, in April, 

 they remain until October, breeding abundantly in suitable 

 places. They are very abundant on St. Clair Flats, and on 

 Fighting Island, south of Detroit, and are common resi- 

 dents in Western New York ; but I do not think they 

 extend regularly far north of the south shores of the lower 

 Great Lakes. In Maine and the Maritime Provinces, they 

 are simply accidental. 



In the South Atlantic and Gulf States, but sometimes 

 straggling even to New Brunswick, is the beautiful Purple 

 Gallinule (Porphyria martinica), described by Dr. Coues as 

 follows : " Head, neck and under parts beautiful purplish- 

 blue, blackening on the belly, the crissum white ; above, 

 olivaceous-green, the cervix and wing coverts tinted with 

 blue ; frontal shield, blue ; bill, red, tipped with yellow ; 

 legs, yellowish. Young, with the head, neck and lower 



