This Coot is very readily distinguishable from other known species by the peculiar shape of
the frontal shield, which is narrow and elongated, and instead o f being rounded above,
terminates in an acute angle, as shewn in our figure. In the living bird this shield is described as
o f a dark blood-red, and it appears to retain nearly the same colovu- in the dried skin. A second
character, which absolutely distinguishes this Coot from all others o f the white-rumped section,
is the absence o f the white margin o f the fii-st primary. There are, however, a few whitish
edgings to the small feathers on the bend o f the wing.
This Coot appears to have nearly the same distribution as Fulica armillata. Although it has
not y e t been recorded from the Argentine Eepublic, it must certainly occur there, i f the locality
o f Uruguay, given by Hartlaub on the authority o f Sellow, is correct. In Chili it is one o f the
three species o f which Herr Landbeck has given us such an excellent account. The late Mr.
Bridges likewise obtained specimens o f it in Chdi, from one o f which, now in the Derby
Museum at Liverpool, our figure has been prepared. King’s Fulica ckloropoides, i f we are
right in referring it to this species, was obtained in Patagonia. There is a specimen o f this
bird in tbe British Museum said to have been obtained during the siuweying-voyage o f the
“ Erebus and Terror” in the Falkland Islands, and in 1859 Capt. Abbott shot a single example,
believed to have been o f this species, in the same country.
Our figure o f this bird, as likewise o f the other Coots in this Part, is one h a lf o f the size o f
nature.
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