RAILS, GALLINULES, AND COOTS 
237 
Range , — Tropical and temperate Am. Breeds from cen. Calif., Ariz., 
Nebr., Minn., Qnt., N. Y., and Yt. s. through the West Indies and Mex. to 
Chile and Argentina, and in the Galapagos and Bermuda; winters from s. 
Calif., Ariz., Tex., and Ga. southward; casual in Colo., Que., N. S., N. B., 
and Maine. 
Washington, rare T. V., Apl. ; Aug.-Oct. Long Island, uncommon T. V., 
May; Sept, and Oct. ; a few breed. Ossining, rare S. R., June 5-Nov. 5. Cam- 
bridge, uncommon S. R., May 15-Oct. 25. N. Ohio, common S. R., Apl. 25- 
Sept. 20. Glen Ellyn, rare and local S. R., May 26. SE. Minn., common S. R. 
Nest , of rushes on a bed of rushes or similar slight elevation in marshes, 
lagoons, or swampy lake sides. Eggs, 8-13, buffy white or ochraceous-buff, 
spotted and speckled with rufous-brown, 1*80 x 1*25. Date, Coast S. C., 
May 21; Cambridge, June 5; Pewaukee, Wise., May 20. 
There is something about the appearance and habits of Gallinules 
which always suggests to me the thought that they are chickens which 
for unknown reasons have been forced to adopt the ways of both Coots 
and Rails. Indeed, the names Water-hen and Moor-hen are applied 
to near relatives of our bird. 
They frequent marshy, reed- or bush-grown shores of ponds and 
lakes, walking gracefully through the tangled vegetation. Their flight 
is short, and, like a Rail, with dangling legs they drop awkwardly to the 
ground. They swim readily, and when on the water resemble a Coot, 
though they are by no means so aquatic. Their notes are loud and 
varied, and during the nesting season they are unusually noisy. Their 
common note is an explosive chuck; other calls are suggestive of the 
barnyard, and remind one of the protest of a disturbed brooding hen 
or even the squawking of a struggling fowl. 
Brewster, Wm., Auk, VII, 1-7 (nesting in Mass.).-— 1910. Miller, 
R. F., Auk, XXVII, 181-184 (nesting in Pa.). 
The European Coot (220. Fulica atra) inhabits the northern parts of the 
Old World, and sometimes occurs in Greenland. It closely resembles the 
American Coot, but lacks the white markings on the edge of the wing and 
under tail-coverts. 
221. Fulica americana Gmel. Coot. (Figs. 215; 39e.) Ads. — -Head 
and neck blackish; rest of plumage dark, bluish slate-color, paler below; 
edge of wing, tips of secondaries, and under tail-coverts white ; bill whitish, 
two spots near its tip and crown plate brownish ; legs and feet greenish ; toes 
with scalloped flaps. Im. — Similar, but much whiter below, a slight brownish 
wash above; crown plate much smaller. Downy young. — Blackish, white 
below ; throat and upperparts with numerous bright orange hairlike feathers ; 
lores red; bill red, tipped with black. L., 15‘00; W., 7*50; Tar., 2'25; B. 
from posterior margin of nostril, *80. 
Remarks. — The Coot bears a general resemblance to the Florida Gal- 
linule, but, aside from the differences in color, the scalloped webbed feet of 
the Coot will always serve to distinguish it. 
Range. — N. A. Breeds from cen. B. C., s. Mackenzie, Man., Que., and 
N. B. s. to n. L. Calif., Tex., Tenn., and N. J., and also in s. Mex., s. West 
Indies, and Guatemala; winters from s. B. C., Nev., Utah, the Ohio Valley, 
and Va., s. to Colombia; casual at Fort Yukon, Alaska, and in Greenland, 
Lab. and Bermuda. 
Washington, common T. V., Mch.-May; Sept. 1-Oct. 31. Long Island, 
uncommon, T. V., Apl.; not uncommon, Sept.-Nov. (Dutcher). Ossining, 
common T. V., Apl. 28-May 16; Sept. 22-Nov. 13. Cambridge, T. V., rare 
in Apl.; not uncommon, Sept. 15-Oct. 25. N, Ohio, tolerably common T. 
