312 GAME BIBDS OF CALIFOBNIA 



Brewster (1891, p. 4) says that the calls of these Gallinules were 

 varied and complex. Sometimes they gave four or .five loud harsh 

 screams, again a series of sounds resembling those made by a brooding 

 hen when disturbed, then a number of querulous complaining cries 

 intermingled with subdued clucking. 



Again . . . something which sounded like this: hr-r-r-r-r, Tcrue-Tcruo, Tcrar-r, 

 Tch-Tch-Tch-'kh-Tcea-Tcea, delivered rapidly and falling in pitch toward the end. 

 Shorter notes were a single, abrupt, explosive Icwp, very like the cry given by 

 a startled frog just as he jumps into the water, and a low Tcloc-Moc or Tcloc- 

 Tcloc-kloc. Speaking generally, the notes were all loud, harsh, and discordant, 

 and nearly all curiously hen-like. ... In the early morning and late after- 

 noon their calls were frequent and at times nearly incessant. They ceased 

 almost entirely after nightfall, for the Florida Gallinule is apparently much 

 less nocturnal than any of the Rails. . . . 



Of the general habits of the Florida Gallinule in Massachusetts, 

 Brewster (1891, pp. 3-4) says: 



His manner of swimming and of feeding from the surface of the water 

 was very like that of a Coot. He sat high and accompanied the strokes of the 

 feet with a forward-and-backward nodding motion of the head and neck, accent- 

 uated at times as he reached out to sieze some tempting morsel. On land he 

 walked like a Bail, treading his way deftly among the stems of the bushes and 

 tall rushes, stepping daintily, lifting and putting down his feet slowly, and 

 almost incessantly jerking up his tail with a quick, nervous motion which caused 

 the under coverts to flash like the sudden flirt of a handkerchief. As he picked 

 his food from the vegetation at his feet, the head and neck were shot forward 

 and downward at intervals of about a second, with a peculiarly vivid, eager 

 motion. His manner of walking and feeding also suggested that of the Guinea- 

 hen, the body being carried low and in a crouching attitude, while the movements 

 of the head partook of that furtive swiftness which is so characteristic of this 

 barnyard fowl. 



Our Gallinule at most times, whether in action or repose, was a bird of 

 slender shape and graceful outline, his carriage light yet firm, the play of the 

 body lithe and strong. While preening his feathers, however, his attitude was 

 often stiff and awkward, and the rufiling of his plumage made him appear 

 nearly as portly as a duck. Again, the motion of flight was ludicrously awk- 

 ward and uncouth. When, frightened by a glimpse of . . . [the observers], 

 he rose and flew with legs hanging down, wing-beats feeble and labored, the 

 whole bearing was indicative of strain and exhaustion, which received an 

 added emphasis from the abrupt reckless drop into the bushes which ended 

 the flight. 



Almost every time the birds which Brewster was observing came 

 to a small ditch in the marsh they would stop to bathe. The male 

 would stand at the water's edge where 



With a quick plunge and upward fling of the head he scattered the drops 

 over his back in a shining shower, opening and trembling his wings as the 

 water fell. After repeating this performance five or six times in rapid succes- 

 sion, he rested a moment, and then went through it once more. After his 



