BRITISH BIRDS. 
5 
THE LITTLE GALLINULE. 
( Gallinula mmuta.) 
The above figure was taken from a stuffed specimen 
obligingly lent to this work by the Hon. H. T. Lid- 
dell, of Ravensworth Castle, and the weight and 
length are quoted from Mr Montagu’s description, 
who treats of this bird as a hitherto undescribed spe- 
cies. We had, however, seen the bird some years 
ago : it was caught by the dogs of our friend, the late 
Lieut. Henry Forster Gibson, in a boggy place, cover- 
ed with reeds and rushes, near the Tyne ; we had no 
opportunity at the time of taking either a drawing or 
description from it, but recollect its being somewhat 
more distinctly and beautifully spotted than the speci- 
men now before us. The weight two ounces ; length 
seven inches and three quarters ; the bill five eighths 
of an inch long, yellowish green at the tip, and dark 
B 2 
