AVES. 
261 
black arid gray; wings variegated with ochre-yellow, gray, green, 
and scarlet; bill and legs dusky. Fifteen inches long. Inhabits 
Guiana. 
Genus 31.—RALLUS.— Linnceus . 
Generic Character .—Bill somewhat longer than the head, 
slender, and slightly arcuated, or straight in some species, com¬ 
pressed at the base, cylindrical at the tip; upper mandible 
grooved ; nostrils situated a little remote from the base, placed 
in the furrow, and half closed by a membrane ; legs long, strong, 
tibia partly naked ; three anterior toes long, and completely di¬ 
vided ; hallux short, articulated on the tarsus, and the point 
touching the ground; wings concave, rounded; first quill same 
length as the, fifth; the third and fourth the longest of the 
whole. 
Rallus aquaticus. — The Water Rail. 
Plate LX. fig. 1. 
Upper parts reddish-brown ; throat whitish ; cheeks, breast, 
and abdomen, lead-coloured; bill red. Nine and a half inches 
long. Inhabits Europe. 
Genus 32. — GALLINULA.— Brisson. 
Generic Character. —Bill shorter than the head, compressed, 
conical, deeper than broad at the base; ridge resting on the 
forehead, and dilated into a naked plate in some species; tips 
of mandibles compressed, and of equal length, the upper one a 
little curved, the lower one forming an angle; nostrils remote 
from the base, lateral, longitudinal, half closed by a membrane, 
which clothes the nasal furrow; legs long; tibia partly naked; 
feet with three long lateral toes, completely divided, and pro¬ 
vided with a narrow edging; hallux articulated on the tarsus, 
its point touching the ground. 
Section I.—Ridge of the bill extending on the forehead, but 
not dilated. 
Gallinula crex .— The Land Rail. 
Plate LXII. fig. 9- 
Dark brown above, edged with pale ferruginous ; wing-coverts 
