The Florida Gallinule 



No. 309 



Florida Gallinule 



A. O. U. No. 219. Gallinula galeata (Lichtenstein). 



Synonyms. — Mud-hen (confused with the Coot). Red-billed Mud-hen. 

 American Gallinule. 



Description. — Adult: General color blackish slate, darkening, pure black, on 

 head and neck and on crissum, centrally; extensively white on middle of belly; length- 

 ened flank-feathers boldly blotched with white; and lateral under tail-coverts definitely 

 and showily pure white; back and wings heavily overlaid with deep olive-brown; edge 

 of wing white, and bluish dusky feathers in lining of wing tipped with white. Frontal 

 shield and base of bill red, the latter tipped with yellow; exposed tibia reddish, tarsus 

 and toes greenish, changing to blue on the joints; irides red or reddish brown. Imma- 

 ture birds are duller, especially on the bill and feet, and extensively white below, with 

 frontal shield more or less undeveloped. Downy young are black, with sprinkling of 

 silvery filaments on chin. Length of adult 304.8-355.6 (12.00-14.00); wing about 177.8 

 (7.00); tail 76.2 (3.00); bill with frontal shield 44.5 (1.75); tarsus 57.2 (2.25). 



Recognition Marks. — Teal size; dark slaty coloration distinctive for all but 

 Fulica americana, from which it is distinguished by bill extensively red and by brighter, 

 purer red of frontal shield, by its somewhat smaller size, and by its more retiring habits. 



Nesting. — Nest: A well constructed basket of cattail leaves or sedges built up 

 out of water or placed on broken-down rushes from one to three feet above water of 

 swamp — in any case provided with runway leading down to open water. Eggs: 6 to 

 10, 13 of record; ovate or elongate ovate, yellowish olive-buff, cartridge-buff, or pale 

 dull pinkish clay-color, spotted or blotched rather sparingly with rich chocolate, which 

 is sometimes smeared or "self-toned," and occasionally with vinaceous gray under-shell 

 markings. Av. size 44x31 (1.73 x 1.22) ; index 70.4. Season: May-June; one brood. 



General Range. — Warm temperate and tropical America. Breeds from central 

 California, Nebraska, Minnesota, Ontario, and Vermont south through the West Indies 

 and Mexico to Argentina and Chile. Winters from southern California, Georgia, and 

 the Gulf Coast southward. 



Distribution in California. — Fairly common summer resident in southern 

 portion of State west of the desert divides and north to Santa Barbara. Found also in 

 the San Joaquin-Sacramento Valleys north to Sutter County (Belding). Winters very 

 sparingly, possibly throughout its breeding range. 



Authorities. — Newberry (Gallinula galeata), Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv., vol. vi., 

 1857, p. 96 (San Francisco); Willett, Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 7, 1912, p. 33 (s. Calif.; 

 nesting dates) ; Bangs. Proc. New Engl. Zool. Club, vol. v., 1915, p. 96 (syst. ; N. Am. 

 form described : Gallinula galeata cachinnans). 



IT IS a common misfortune of men to be overshadowed by the pres- 

 ence of others neither more deserving nor more clever, but only a little 

 more self-assertive. A similar misfortune has befallen the Florida Galli- 

 nule. The accident of association, together with the still greater accident 

 of similarity to the multitudinous "Mud-hen," has completely obscured 

 this bird's claim to public recognition. Even in those regions where both 



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