RALLIN^. FULICA. 
211 
Frontal plate^ eyes^ ring* on tibise, and bill carmine, the latter tipped 
with yellow ; head, neck, and lower parts, greyish-black ; abdomen 
greyish-yellow ; lower tail-coverts and some streaks on the sides, with 
the edge of the wing, and the outer web of the first quill white ; upper 
parts brownish-olive ; quills and tail dusky. F emale similar, with the 
frontal plate small. Young similar, but^ith the bill dull green, and 
the breast faintly barred with whitish. 
Male, 14, 22, 
From Texas to South Carolina, common, and resident. Stragglers 
are seen as far as Massachusetts. Abundant in Louisiana and Florida. 
Up the Mississippi to Natchez. Fresh water. 
Gallinula galeata, Bonap. Amer. Orn. v. iv. p. 128. 
Florida Gallinixle, Gallinula galeata, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 223. 
Common Gallinule, Gallinula Chloropus, Aun. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 330. 
GENUS II. FULICA, Linn. COOT. 
Bill as long as the head, nearly straight, stout, deep, 
compressed, tapering ; upper mandible with a soft ovate or 
oblong tumid plate at the base, extending over the fore- 
head, the dorsal line declinate, toward the tip arcuate, the 
ridge narrowed to the middle, then slightly enlarged, the 
sides nearly erect, the edges sharp, the notches obsolete, 
the tip rather obtuse ; nasal sinus extending nearly to the 
middle ; lower mandible with the angle rather long and 
narrow, the dorsal line ascending, nearly straight, the sides 
nearly erect, the tip narrow. Nostrils submedial, lateral, 
linear, direct. Head small, oblong, compressed ; neck of 
moderate length, slender ; body full, compressed. Feet 
large ; tibia bare at the lower part ; tarsus stout, of mode- 
rate length, compressed, with very broad anterior scutella ; 
hind toe rather small and slender ; anterior toes very long, 
their margins dilated into flat lobes, the hind toe with a 
single inferior lobe. Claws of moderate length, slightly 
arched, much compressed, acute. Plumage, blended, soft. 
Wings short, broad, convex, with the second quill longest. 
Tail very short, much rounded, of twelve weak feathers ; 
lower coverts nearly as long. Gizzard extremely muscular ; 
coeca very long, being a fifth part of the length of the in- 
testine. 
