300 



LITTLE GALLINULE. 



was shot near Warkworth, in the autumn of 1821 ; the other was killed 

 on the 1st of February 1823, near Twizell, and is placed in my collec- 

 tion. This bird, although destitute of the peculiar markings about the 

 head and neck that distinguish the male in his adult state, or rather 

 perhaps at a particular season, proved, however, to be of that sex, by 

 the unerring test of dissection." 



"In the specimen alluded to," he adds, " the stomach was distended with 

 a mass of various grasses and the stems of clover, intermixed with the 

 seeds of cow-parsnip, (^Heracleumspondylium), and of other umbelliferous 

 plants. No gravel, or other hard substance, generally used by birds pos- 

 sessing strong muscular stomachs or gizzards, was contained in it ; from 

 which it appears that Montagu's views are correct, 1 and that the gastric 

 juice alone is sufficiently powerful, without attrition, to effect the com- 

 plete dissolution of the food in many herbivorous or granivorous birds. 

 The Little Bustard will also feed eagerly upon grain, and it is said to 

 devour worms and insects." 



It lays its eggs upon the bare ground, under cover of the herbage, or 

 low plants : such as the cistus, &c, growing upon the plains it usually 

 frequents. When suddenly disturbed, this bird immediately takes wing, 

 flying with considerable strength and velocity, from fifty to a hundred 

 yards, raised but little above the surface of the ground, and upon 

 alighting, runs off with great swiftness, by this mode generally eluding 

 pursuit.* 



LITTLE EGRET.— A name for the Egret. 



LITTLE GALLINULE {Gallinula minuta, Mon tagu.) 



Gallinula minuta, Mont. — lb. Supp. with a fig. — liallus pusillus, Pallas, Reise, 



3. p. 700. No. 30 Rallus parvus, Scopoli. Ann — Gallinella palustre, Storia 



degli Uccell. 5. p. 482 Little Gallinule, Flem. Br. Anim. p. 99 Linn. Trans. 



14. p. 583. 



We are indebted to Mr. Tucker for this very interesting little bird. 

 The weight is two ounces ; length seven inches and three quarters. 

 The bill is five-eighths of an inch long, of a bright green colour ; the 

 upper part of the head dusky brown ; the cheeks pale brown ; over 

 each eye cinereous ; the chin and throat white, shaded into a cream 

 colour on the upper part of the neck before ; the lower part of the 

 neck, breast, sides, and greater part of the body beneath, plain fawn 

 colour; the lower belly, thighs, and vent, olive brown, spotted with 

 white, and slightly barred with paler brown ; the back and sides of the 

 neck pale olivaceous brown ; back and scapulars black, deeply margined 

 with the same colour as the last, the inner margins very pale, similar to 



1 See Supplement to Orn. Diet. Art. Little Bustard. 



