Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE CRANE-LIKE BIRDS

THE FINFEET

Peter's Finfoot

(Podica peter si) of South Africa is dark brown above, rather indistinctly spotted with ochreous on the back, and has the sides of the face and neck gray, and the lower parts mainly white.

The upper mandible is black with red margins and the lower mandible red with black margins, while the legs and feet are bright red. This bird is rare and very shy and, according to Ayres,”it frequents the rocky streams of the interior of the country; can scarcely rise from the water, and generally flies along the surface, aiding itself with its feet, which are lobed; when disturbed it hides under a bank like the Moor-hen in England. It feeds on fresh-water shrimps and small fish."

The other species of this genus are found in West Africa and the Cameroons respectively. Of the Asiatic species {Heliopais personata) comparatively little is known.

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