The Florida Gallinule 



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 inter- 

 vals 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 ruffling of his plumage made 

 him appear nearly as portly as a duck. Again, the motion of flight was 

 ludicrously awkward and uncouth. When, frightened by a glimpse of us 

 through the flags, he rose and flew with legs hanging down, wing-beats 

 feeble and labored, the whole bearing was indicative of strain and -ex- 

 haustion, which received an added emphasis from the abrupt reckless 

 drop into the bushes which ended the flight." 



Although more or less associated with the Coots, the Gallinules keep 

 much more to the shelter of the reeds, and they are much more difficult to 

 flush. Their presence in the swamp is betrayed at nesting time by a suc- 

 cession of varied and animated notes which now resemble the Coot's, and 

 now differ sharply from them. A common frog-like outburst, kup or bup, 

 I cannot certainly distinguish from the Coot's note of disturbance. An 

 amorous note of the male is decidedly rail-like, crepitant, to be exact, 

 tick'et — tick 'et — tick 'et — tick'et. For the rest, one must appeal again to Dr. 

 Brewster, who had the advantage of studying isolated pairs: "Sometimes 

 they gave four or five loud harsh screams, very like those of a hen in the 

 clutches of a Hawk — only slower and at longer intervals; sometimes a 

 series of sounds closely resembling those made by a brooding hen when dis- 

 turbed, but louder and sharper. Then would succeed a number of queru- 

 lous, complaining cries, intermingled with subdued clucking. Again I 

 heard something which sounded like this: kr-r-r-r, kruc-kruc, krar-r, 

 kh-kh-kh-kh-kea-kea, delivered rapidly and falling in pitch toward 

 the end." 



Gallinules allow themselves an even greater latitude than Coots in 

 the choice of nesting sites, save that they do not often nest in open water 

 nor in exposed situations. The nest itself is a shallow basket of coarse 

 dried grasses or cat-tail leaves, bedded in broken-down reeds or else built 

 up on floating vegetation. I have seen nests as high as two feet above the 

 water, and others which were veritable arks of bulrushes supported by the 

 water itself. Occasionally these structures ride the water so freely that 

 they will rise with the flood; but usually their dependence upon surround- 



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