[118] Length 12¹⁄₂ inches, expanse 21¹⁄₂, flexure 6¹⁄₂, tail 2¹⁄₂, rictus 1³⁄₁₀, breadth of shield ⁹⁄₂₀, height from base of lower mandible to point of shield, 1 inch, tarsus 3, middle toe 3. Hind claw largest. This magnificent bird is not uncommon in some of the lowland ponds and marshy rivers of Jamaica. The road from Savannah le Mar to Negril, passes through the immense swamp of the Cabarita River, the tall and dense rushes of which form a wall on each side of the way, which in the wet season is overflowed. Riding there one day in January, I saw a Sultana walking in the middle of the road; a horseman had passed an instant before, who certainly had not disturbed it; and on my approach it took no more notice than a common fowl, sauntering about, and picking here and there; allowing me to come within three or four feet of it. I stopped and gazed at it, and at length made a noise and a sudden motion with my hands; but it merely half-opened the wings, and gave a little start, exactly as a chicken would do, but neither flew nor ran. I never saw a bird, _feræ naturæ_, so tame. I afterwards found that this vast morass abounded with them, and that their presence in the high road was a thing of daily occurrence; and though I never saw them _quite_ so fearless as the one I have mentioned, still they were very bold, walking out from the rushes and strolling across the road in the sight of passengers. The aspect of the living bird is not that of a Gallinule; it stands high on the legs, which are placed more forward: its air is much like that of a fowl, but its contour is much slenderer. As it walks, the neck is bridled up, and thrown forward alternately, and the short black and white tail, which is semi-erect, is, at every step, flirted up with a jerk into a perpendicular position.