KEY TO THE WATER BIRDS OF FLORIDA. 269 
rushes; the eggs are from eight to thirteen in number, pale brownish white 
spotted and speckled with brown. 
SuprAmMiILy FULICIN. Coors. 
Genus FULICA Linn. 
Fulica americana. Fulica americana (foot). 
FULICA AMERICANA Gwe. 
American Coot. Mud-=hen. 
Adult: General plumage dark slate color; head and neck blackish; bill whitish marked 
with reddish black on the upper mandible; frontal plate brownish white; legs and feet dark 
olive, the toes having peculiar semicircular flaps or webs; abdomen grayish; edge of wing and 
ends of secondaries white. 
Length, 14.75; Wing, 7.45; Tail, 2.30; Bill, from front edge of frontal plate, 1.40. 
It ranges in North America from New Brunswick south to the West 
Indies and Central America, being common in Florida, where it is resident. 
It breeds inthe marshes. The eggs are from eight to fifteen, which are 
pale brownish white in color and marked with dark chocolate brown. 
This species may be easily distinguished from the Gallinule by the 
peculiar rounded flaps or webs on the toes, and by the different color of the 
frontal plate. 
