RALLUS. : 315 
Fam. RALLIDA. 
The Rallide may be divided into two subfamilies, viz. the Ralline and the Fulicine, 
the latter consisting of the Coots, which have their toes externally scalloped with a 
web, as in the Grebes. The remaining species have long and slender toes, armed with 
a sharp claw, and they may. be divided into two main groups, the Rails and the 
Water-hens. The former have a slender body, while the latter are somewhat plump, 
resembling the Cocts in their general aspect, and, like them, having a frontal shield, 
but not possessing the lobed toes of the Fulicine. 
The external characteristics of the family are evident to all students of ornithology, 
and the anatomical characters may be summed up as follows:—A schizorhinal palate, 
holorhinal nostrils, a single notch on the posterior margin of the sternum, and a tufted 
oil-gland. 
The species are of almost cosmopolitan distribution. 
Subfam. RALLINA. 
The true Rails have very long toes and a long beak. The Crakes, which have the 
outward characters and habits of the species of the genus Radlus, have a shorter and 
more thick-set bill, less than the length of the middle toe and claw; they are mostly 
of sombre coloration. The Purple Gallinules and Moor-hens, on the other hand, are 
birds of large size, remarkable for the development of their toes, and are ornamented 
with a bare shield of red or yellow on the forehead. | 
Members of the subfamily Ralline are to be found in all tropical and subtropical 
portions of the globe, and the species, being mostly non-migratory, are confined within 
certain definite limits. ‘They are usually restricted to marshes and the neighbourhood 
of rivers. 
The eggs are generally buff or cream-coloured, with numerous spots, and of small 
size. The young are covered with down, and are able to shift for themselves very 
shortly after emerging from the shell. 
RALLUS. 
Rallus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 261 (1766); Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxiii. p. 6 (1894).. 
The Rails, of which the genus Rallus is typical, differ from the Crakes and Water- 
hens in their long and delicate bill and short tarsus, as compared with the slender toes. 
The culmen equals, and sometimes exceeds, the middle toe and claw in length; and 
the tarsus is never longer than the middle toe and claw, the genus differing in this 
respect from Aramides. 
Species of Rallus are to be found in most parts of the globe. The American repre- 
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