88 MARTINICO GALLINULE. 
arrived at Philadelphia from New Orleans, bringing a fine 
living specimen, which had flown on board of her in the Gulf 
Stream. This bird is now (1825) alive in the Philadelphia 
Museum. In the month of August 1818, a storm drove 
another individual on board of a vessel in her passage from 
Savannah to Philadelphia. This also lived for some time in 
Peale’s Museum. . 
The Martinico gallinule is a vigorous and active bird. — It 
bites hard, and is quite expert in the use of its feet. When 
it seizes upon any substance with its toes, it requires a con- 
siderable effort to disengage it. Its toes are long, and spread 
greatly. It runs with swiftness ; and, when walking, it jerks 
its tail in the manner of the common rail. Its manners and 
food are somewhat similar to those of the far-famed purple 
gallinule, whose history is so beautifully detailed in the works 
of Buffon. 
In its native haunts, it is vigilant and shy; and it is not 
easy to spring it without the assistance of a dog. 
Length, from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail, four- 
teen inches; bill, an inch and a quarter long, vermilion, 
greenish yellow at the tip; irides, pale cornelian ; naked 
crown, dull azure; head, part of the neck, throat, and breast, 
of a rich violet purple; back and scapulars, olive green ; 
rump, tail, and its coverts, brownish green; sides of the neck 
and wings, ultra-marine, the latter tinged with green; shoulders 
of wing, rich azure; inner webs of the quills and tail-feathers, 
dusky brown ; belly and thighs, dull purplish black; vent, 
pure white; tail, rounded; legs and feet, greenish yellow; 
claws, long, sharp, and of a pale flesh colour; span of the 
foot, five inches. 
