_Fulica_ includes twelve species, of which the majority are South American, though the genus extends over most of the globe; Polynesia possesses only _F. alai_ of the Sandwich Islands, but three of the members reach Patagonia. _F. atra_, our grey-black Coot, with flesh-coloured bill, white shield and greenish legs relieved by an orange garter, ranges through Europe and Asia, and to North Africa and the Philippines southwards; its habits are well-known, {251}while the lobed toes are noticed above. The smaller _F. lugubris_ of Sumatra, Java, and Celebes is hardly distinct; the North American _F. americana_ and the Australian _F. australis_ are very similar; the Andean _F. gigantea_ is extremely large; while the red frontal caruncles of the Bolivian _F. cornuta_ and of the African and South-European _F. cristata_ have already been mentioned. Of fossil Rallidae an extraordinary number are found, ranging from the possibly toothed _Telmatornis_ of the American Cretaceous rocks, _Gypsornis_, _Orthnocnemus_, _Elaphrocnemus_, and _Tapinopus_ of the French Upper Eocene, and _Rallus_ of both Eocene and Miocene of the same country, to _Fulica minor_ of the Pliocene of Oregon. Of more recently exterminated forms we have _Tribonyx_ (?) _roberti_ from Central Madagascar, the long-billed flightless _Aphanapteryx broecki_ and _Fulica newtoni_ from the Mare aux Songes in Mauritius, _Porphyrio caerulescens_ from Réunion, and the "Poule Rouge" (_Erythromachus leguati_) from Rodriguez. In New Zealand are found the large _Aptornis defossor_ and _A. otidiformis_, with two species of _Notornis_; in the Chatham Islands _Diaphorapteryx hawkinsi_ and _Ocydromus insignis_–all six flightless; in the latter islands, too, an extinct _Fulica_ (_Palaeolimnas_) occurs, and in Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands _Notornis alba_, as above. Queensland furnishes _Porphyrio mackintoshi_, _P. reperta_, _Tribonyx effluxus_, _Gallinula strenuipes_, _G. peralata_, and _Fulica prior_. The Sandwich Islands may possibly yet contain _Rallus sandvicensis_ and _Pennula ecaudata_, further instances of flightless species, but this is improbable. Fam. II. GRUIDAE.–The Cranes are very old forms, superficially somewhat like Herons, and often confounded with them in local parlance–as is the case in Scotland and Ireland. They are among the largest of Waders, and are scattered over most of the globe, except the Malay islands, Papuasia, and Polynesia; but in the Neotropical Region they are mere migrants from the north, never found south of Mexico. Their headquarters are in North-East Asia, while America possesses only three species, and Australia one.