126 
FULICA AMERICANA. 
covered with close fine feathers. The thijrhs are plac^ 
far behind, are fleshy, strong, and bare above t® 
knees. . 
The gizzard resembles a hen’s, and is remarkaWJ 
large and muscular. That of the bird which has be* 
described wius filled with sand,- gravel, shells, and 1® 
remains of aquatic plants. 
ButFon describes the mode of shooting coots in FraO** 
particularly in Lorraine, on the great pools of TiaucoU®’ ^ 
and of Indre ; hence wo are led to suppose, that tb*J 
are esteemed as an article of food. But with us, n® 
are enabled, by the abundance and variety of game) • 
indulge in greater luxuries in that season when 
coots visit us, they are considered as of no account, s®* 
are seldom eaten. ^ 
The European ornithologists represent the membra® 
on the forehead of the fulica atra as white, except ’ 
the breeding season, when it is said to change its ool^ 
to pale red. In every specimen of the cinereous 
which I have seen, except one, the membrane of t®* 
forehead was of a dark chestnut brown colour. T®* 
one alluded to was tine adult male, shot in the 
ware, at I’hiladelpliia, on the 1 1 th of May : the membe*^ 
was of a pure white ; no white marking beneath t“ 
eye ; legs and feet of a bright grass green. , , , 
In Wilson’s figure of the coot, there are some sh^ 
errors : the aiiriculars are designated, which should ®^ 
have been done, as they are not distinguishable h®jj 
the rest of the plumage of the head and neck, whi*®j|[ 
all of a fine satiny texture ; and the outline of the ® 
is not correct. a 
Latham states, that the common European ‘■[’■j. 
(/". atra) is “ met with in Jamaica, Carolina, and ot® ^ 
parts of North America.” This, I presume, is a mist* 
as I have never seen but one species of coot in 'j 
United States. Brown, in speaking of the bird* 
Jamaica, mentions a coot, which, in all probability’^^ 
the same as ours. The coot mentioned by Sloane is , ^ 
common gallinule. So is also that spoken of 
Natural History of Barbadoes, by Hughes, p. 7L 
