Occurrence of the Florida Gallinule at Springfield, Mass. — A Florida 
Gallinule ( Gallinula galeata ) was taken October i, 1884, at a point on the 
Connecticut River about five miles below Springfield., The bird was first 
noticed in the water close to the bank, in the act of diving. I immediately, 
went to the spot with a dog, who dashed in where the bird disappeared, 
when it immediately came to the surface and instantly took to wing and 
was shot. A companion then informed me that it was similar to a bird 
that he had recently taken. Early in September, 1886, I was told that a 
strange bird, like a very large Rail,” had been seen in the reeds in a set- 
back, near the mouth of the Agawam River, which enters into the Con- 
necticut directly opposite this city. On the 14th of September, upon going 
to this place, I at once succeeded in getting this bird up, but in shooting- 
missed it. It alighted about a hundred yards up the set-back, where, after 
some search, it arose from some tall grass within a few feet of where I 
stood and was killed. 
Four days later (September 18th), at very nearly the same place where 
the first mentioned Gallinule was shot in 1884, the dogs drove out from the 
reeds another, which was shot; and on the same day, a little farther down 
the river, and about a mile north of the Connecticut State line, I saw what 
at first seemed to be a Grebe swimming rapidly out into the river; upon 
pursuing it with a boat it arose, flying slowly and near the water, and was 
also killed. This made the fourth time I had been present at the capture 
of a Florida Gallinule in this vicinity within two years. I also think I 
have seen birds of this kind on other occasions when they have not been 
taken, and have very little doubt but that my companion was correct in 
his statement in 1884, that he had shot one, although there is a possibility 
he had mistaken a Coot for a Gallinule. They very closely resemble each 
other in every respect, except the feet. At all other places where these 
birds were first found, the bottom was very soft and there was a rank 
growth of wild rice, upon the seeds of which plant the birds were feeding. 
—Robert O. Morris, Springfield , Mass. AUk # 4, Jan. , 1887, p. 72 
0ape 3od - Mass , 1890. G. S, Miller 
&TJK.VHI,Jan, i89i,p, 
Gallinula galeata.— Among the cat-tails bordering the pond in which 
the Ruddy Ducks were found this species occurred in large numbers. The 
pond was formerly a tide-meadow and harbor opening into Massachusetts 
Bay , or perhaps more properly into Provincetown Harbor, but as there 
was danger of the Cape wearing through at this point, the Government 
about twenty years ago shut off the outlet, thus converting the harbor 
into a shallow pond which immediately became fresh, and as soon as the 
cat-tails began to grow at its margins formed a very favorable breeding 
giound for reed-loving birds. The proportion of cat-tails to water has 
been steadily increasing, so that of the total nine hundred or more acres 
of the original pond there must be at present at least two hundred and 
fifty acres of cat-tails. The open water is seldom more than four feet 
deep (the average depth is much less), and in the shallower parts is filled 
with Potamogeton. 
Ihe Gallinules were found in such numbers that without making anv 
special effort in search of them from five to eight might be seen in the 
course of a row around tile pond close to the edge of the cat-tails. This, 
foi such a shy, retiring bird, is a large number to see in one day in Massa- 
chusetts. At almost any point where the fringe of cat-tails was more 
than a few yards deep, the report of a gun would immediately start the 
noisy and characteristic outcry of a number of individuals, scarcely any 
of which, however, would show themselves unless it were by accident at 
the edge of the cat-tails, or flying across some pool or old tide creek. 
Although, on account of the lateness of the season at which I visited the 
pond, no nests were found and the young birds taken were so fully 
fledged that they might have been migrants, there is but little doubt that 
the species breeds there. In fact a gunner who has lived for many years 
on the shore of the pond and who knows the birds well, tells me that the 
‘dippers ' (Erismatura) and ‘pond hens,’ as the present species (together 
with Fiilica americana which is abundant during migration) is called, 
first began to frequent the pond as migrants a year or two after it became 
fresh, and that a few years after their first appearance a few pairs re- 
mained to breed, which they have continued to do in varying but steadily 
increasing numbers ever since. 
