398 AVES. 



Rallus, Linn. 



The Rails, which, in other respects, have a strong, mutual re- 

 semblance, present bills of very different proportions. 



Among the species in which it is longest, the Rallus, Bechst., is 

 placed 



Ral. aquaticiis, L.j Rale d'eaii d'Europe, Enl. 749; Naum. 20, 

 f. 41. (The Water Rail.) A fawn coloured brown, spotted with 

 blackish above; bluish ash colour beneath; the flanks striped 

 with white and black; common in ponds, Sec, where it swims 

 well, and runs lightly over the leaves of aquatic plants; it feeds 

 on small shrimps, and its flesh has a marshy odoiir.(l) 

 Other species have a shorter beak, Crex, Bechst., among which 

 we find 



Eal. crex, L.; Lc Rale de genets, Enl. 750; Frisch, 212, B; 

 Naum. 5, f. 5. Fawn coloured brown, spotted with black above; 

 greyish beneath; flanks streaked with black; red wings. It lives 

 and builds in the fields, running through the grass with great 

 celerity. Its name, Crex, expresses the sound of its note. It 

 has been called the Quail-King, because it arrives and departs 

 with those birds, and leads a solitary life on the same grounds, 

 from which arose the conjecture that it was their leader. It 

 feeds on grain, as well as on worms and insects. 



Ral. porzana,h.; La Marouette, Enl. 751; Frisch, 211; Naum. 

 31, f. 42. (The Little Spotted Rail.) A deep brown dotted 

 with white; flanks marked with whitish stripes; found in the 

 vicinity of ponds, and constructs a nest with reeds, that has the 

 form of a wherry, which it fastens to the stem of some one of 

 those plants; it is a good swimmer and diver, and does not leave 

 France till the middle of winter. (2) 



(1) There Is a variety or species at the Cape, Rallus casnilescens, Cuv., the 

 black and white stripes of whose abdomen are merely a little more extended. Add 

 of the Water Rails: Ral. virginianus, Edw., 729; Wils. LXII, 1; crepitans, lb. 2; % 

 loiigirostris, 'Enl. 849; variegatus, Enl. 775; philippensis, Enl. 774; tarquatus; 

 siriatus; the Futica cayennensis (which is a true Hall), Enl. 352, as well as the 

 Gallinula gigas, Spix, xcix; sarracurct. Id. XC VIII; mangle. Id. XCVII; rufi- 

 ceps. Id. XCVI, and caeria, Id. XCV. The Ral.fuscus, Enl. 773, begins to have a 

 shorter bill. 



(2) There are two other Rails in Europe with short beaks, smaller than the 

 porzana, R. BaiUloni, Vieill. Diet., and R.pusillus,l^Si\im.,3>2, F. 43. Among 

 these short beaked Rails may be placed the Ral. cayennensis, Eid. 753 and 368; 

 miniiius, Enl. 847 ,jamalce7isis, Edw. 278; novehoraccnsis, Vieill. Gal. 266; 

 nigro-lateralis, Lichten.; caroUnus, Edw. 144, Wils. 48, 2; Gallinula curizona, 

 T. Col. 417; G. rubiginosa, Id. Col. 387. 



The Ral. benglialensis, Gm., is a Rhynchxa. 



