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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 forehead, the dorsal line declinate, toward the tip arcuate, 
the ridge narrowed to the middle, then slightly enlarged, the sides nearly 
erect, the edges short, 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, com- 
pressed. Feet large ; tibia bare at the lower part ; tarsus stout, of moderate 
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 ; cseca very long, being a fifth part of the length of the 
intestine. 
THE AMERICAN COOT. 
Fulica Americana, Gmel . 
PLATE CCCV.— Male. 
From November until the middle of April the Coots are extremely 
numerous in the southern parts of the Floridas, and the lower portions of 
Louisiana. At that season they are seen in flocks of several hundreds, 
following their avocations on all the secluded bayous, grassy lakes, and 
