712 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



the base of the bill is furnished with a large, free dilated plate, as 

 indeed it is in P. (jallinacea, Temminck, from Australia and New 

 Guinea : P. cristata, Vieill., has been separated as Hydralector ; 

 it has a crest, and the spurs on th * wings are wanting. 



The sub-family Falamedeince or Screamers, may be said to consist 

 of Jacanas of a large size. Palcnneden cormnta or the Horned Screa- 

 mer, is as large as a goose, and has a very loud voice : it has two 

 spurs on each wing, the legs reticulated, and a long slender sort 

 of horn on its forehead. Cliauna rliavaria^ (Linn.) has the occiput 

 furnished with an erectile crest, the neck downy, and the outer 

 toe joined to the middle one by a web : it is domesticated by 

 some of the South-American Indians. A second species has been 

 separated as It^chyornis Derbianns. 



Fam. PtALLit)^. 



Bill more or less compressed, short, pointed, and wedge shaped ; 

 nostrils median, in a short groove, pervious; legs stout; tarsus short, 

 or moderatelv long; feet large; wings moderate or short, and 

 rounded, usually with a tubercle or small spur on the flexure ; tail 

 short or almost wanting. 



The most characteristic points of this family, (which includes 

 the Water-hens, Coots, and Rails,) are the large feet, and the short 

 stout and compressed beak. The head is small and compressed, 

 the neck short, and the body also compressed. Their general 

 aspect, and their partially vegetable diet, give them the appear- 

 ance of Gallinaceous birds, and several have in consequence 

 received popular names significative of this resemblance. Some 

 are furnished with membranes or webs on their toes, and swim well, 

 as indeed do others which are not thus provided. 



The sternum is peculiarly narrow, with one long emargination, 

 and the furcula is thin and feeble. The stomach is a muscular 

 (^izzard, the intestines rather long, and the cjeca also large. The 

 females of some are larger than the males; they are rather noisy and 

 pugnacious birds ; and all frequent the neighbourhood of water or 

 marshy ground. This family appears to be extensively represented 

 in Australia and Oceanica, less so in the Malayan islands. 



It is divided into two sub-families, Gallinulin(S, the Coots and 

 Water-hens ; and RallincB, the true Rails. 



