3 J 4- 



0^5\ClTH0L0gr, 'Book III. 



* In Htinore 

 ala, by which 

 words and the 

 following I do 

 not' well ap- 

 prehend what 

 our Author 

 means'. 



*ThelefTer 

 grey footed 

 Water-hen. 



* Ornhhol. 

 tom. 3 .p.45 5 . 



* Of about 

 two inches 

 length. 



§. III. 



Another green-footed Water-hen of Bellonius like to a Coot, perchance our Grinetta. 



E havenecefTarily feparated theWater-hen [ UPoulette d' eau ~] from the lefler 

 and greater Coot \_delaPoule& Macroule~] becaufe it fwims not in the wa- 

 ter, nor is Web-footed. We have irapofed the name of Water-hen upon this Bird 

 from its likenels, though it be much lefs 5 yet is it bigger than a Rail,. fo that itfeems 

 to partake of both. The Fowlers to whom we fhewed it, feeing it to be like a Coot 

 would needs perfwade me that it differed only inbignefs, being not yet come to its 

 full age and growth. Whereupon I did more diligently fear ch outfome difcrimi- 

 nating notes; Among which this was the chief, that this Water-hen had green Legs 

 and Feet, not unlike to a Bitterns, and not fo plain, nor having iuch broad appen- 

 dant membranes as in a Coot. The Tail alfo of this Water-hen is longer, and the bare 

 fpot upon its forehead lefs. In colour it is indeed like to a Rail, but tending to 

 that of a Coot : Wherefore at firft fight I took it to be a Rail, but viewing it more 

 carefully, I obferved thatit had white Eye-lids, which neither Rail nor Coot have. 

 In the Tail were two white feathers, one on each fide. Under the Bread: it inclined 

 a little to blue. The Back is of a deep chefnut colour. Some alfo are blacker than 

 others, and have the folds of their Wings white 3 and moreover, another white line 

 in the * lefier Wing, which its firft feathers longways of the quil or fhaft compofe. 

 The fame meat was found in its Stomach as in the Rails and. Coots. It hath a Breaft- 

 bone and a Hip-bone different from other Birds, yea, even from the Coot. 



Its fleih is like that of the Morehen, tender, and of eafie digeftion : Its bones eafie 

 to be broken : Its Liver alfo brittle : Its Craw large : Its Guts and Entrails as in a Coot: 

 When roafted alfo it is of the fame tafte with a Coot. It builds, breeds, and brings up 

 its young like the Rail. 



This Bird in many things refembles our Grinetta, ox ^ Gallinula-- poliopm minora? 

 Aldrovand, fo that I doubt not but it is the fame : Howbeit, I thought fit to infert 

 its defcription in this work, that I might leave the Reader to the freedom of his 

 judgment. 



The Water-Rail, called by fome the Bilcock orBrooJ^Onzel: Rallus aquaticus* Aldrov. 



i.e. Ortygometra Bellonii : Alfo the Gallinula chloropus altera, Aldrov. And 



perchance the Gallinula Serica of the fome;: So efonefpecies he maizes three. 



IT is like the common Water-hen, but lefs 5 bigger than a gnail 5 of a (lender, nar- 

 row or comprefled body: From point of Bill to the end of the Claws fixteen 

 inches long, to the end of the Tail but twelve: According to our ufual way of mea- 

 furing fixteen inches broad. 



Its Head is fmall, narrow, or compreffed fideways. Its Bill, like the Ruffs, about 

 two inches long, ftreight, comprefled likewife fideways, red, efpecially the lower 

 Mandible, and lower part of the upper, for toward the top or point it is black, 

 fmooth, and hard. The Tongue reaches to the very end of the Bill, and is white 

 andrough atthetip. It hath a round, black, bald fpot or naked skin in the forehead, 

 but much lef§, than that of the Coot, fb little that it is fcarce obfervable. The colour 

 of the Head, Shoulders, Back, covert-feathers of the Wings, in brief, the whole up- 

 per fide is various of black or dark brown, and olive colour, each fingle feather ha- 

 ving its middle part black, and its edges olive-coloured. [ Mr. WiUughby makes the 

 colour of the borders or edges of the feathers a yellowiih red or ruflet 5 and attri- 

 butes white fpots to the Head, which were not, or at leaft not obferved in the birds 

 feen and defcribed by me. ] The Chin is white, the Throat red, with a mixture of 

 auVcolour$ the extreme edges, and as it were fringes of the feathers being a little 

 grey. The Breaft is more blue, with a bed-of ^white in the middle. On the Thighs 

 and fides under the Wings grow black feathers, elegantly variegated with tranfverfe 

 white lines. The Belly is ruflet, with white feathers under the Tail, like the common 

 Morehen, marked with one or two black fpots. The Wings are hollow, the quil- 

 feathers fhort, black, or very near it, in number twenty two. Along the bafts of 

 the Wing is a line of white, as in the Morehen. The Tail is* fhort and black, only the 



edges 



