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Genus— GALL INULA. 
Gallinula Tunstall, Ornith. Brit., p. 3 (1771). . 
O. chloropus. 
HydrogalUna Lacep^de, Tabl. Ois., p. 19 (1799) 
Stagnicola Brehm, Vog. Beutschl., p. 702 (1831) 
Amaurornis Reichenbach, Nat. Syst. Vog., p. xxi. (1852) 
Erythra Reichenbach, Nat. Syst. Vog., p. xxi. (1852) . . 
Pisynolimnas Heine und Reichenow, Nomencl. Mus. Hein., p. 317 
G. chloropus. 
G. chloropus. 
G. oUvacea. 
G. phoenicura. 
(1888). 
Bill strong and sharply pointed, shorter than the head ; nostrils a short, 
pervious slit in a nasal groove ; forehead covered by an extension of the homy 
covering of the bill (rudimentary in the young) ; middle toe longer than the 
tarsus ; toes with a slight lateral membrane or margin ; tail short ; wings rounded. 
Fifteen forms appear to be separable. 
Distribution. Almost cosmopolitan. 
Note. — Sharpe, in the Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., XXIII., recognised Reichenbach’s genus 
Amaurornis, with which he synonymised Erythra of the same author. I am unable to 
separate Amaurornis from Gallinula, the only difference being the less developed frontal 
shield of the former genus. 
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