_Fulica Americana._—+Gmel.+
Aud. pl. 239.
[120] Length 15¹⁄₂ inches, expanse 27¹⁄₄, flexure 7³⁄₄, tail 2¹⁄₁₀,
rictus 1⁴⁄₁₀, height of shield from base of lower mandible 1,
tarsus 2¹⁄₂, middle toe 3⁴⁄₁₀, width of middle membrane ⁹⁄₁₀.
In the immense morass behind Savanna le Mar, the dense rushes afford
shelter to innumerable aquatic birds, among which one may recognise,
even at a distance, the Sultanas by their graceful air and slender
form, the Gallinules by their scarlet shields, and the Coots by their
conspicuous ivory beaks. In the broad spaces of open water, which
here and there margin the reeds, as at Radonda, they may be seen at
all hours of the day, if undisturbed, hundreds congregated within an
acre. Wary, however, to an excess, the distant sight of a man, or the
snapping of the twigs beneath his tread, alarms the whole, and away
they flutter into the covert, splashing the surface as they go. Yet
the noise made by the cattle walking on the shore, or trampling and
munching the reeds, as they wade breast-high, has no such effect. The
best way to shoot them is to lie very quiet, if the musquitoes will
allow you, behind a bush, and take them as they come out, sometimes two
or three at a shot; or else to wade in among the reeds, and bring them
down as they rise; though sometimes you cannot flush them. A good water
dog is indispensable to success.
As far as my observation goes, the white shield is the mark of mature
age: in the young it is dark brown; I have not seen any with the shield
wholly white, the upper part still being brown. After having been
carried head downward for some time, I found the beak of one, instead
of white, livid purple, as if filled with blood. The stomachs usually
contain small seeds, and decaying vegetable matter mixed with mud and
sand.
+Fam.+—RECURVIROSTRADÆ. (_The Avocets._)