240 AVES : PALUDICOLi-E. — XXXVII. 



Family ("XIJ. GRUID^. ('I'm: Cranes.) 



Very larfjt* birds, with the lejjs and neck extremely Inn<;, the 

 latter of 17 vertebra'. Wings hirf^e, rather short. Tail sliort, of 

 12 broad featliers. Head more or less naked, with scattered hair- 

 like feathers. l'luma<ie compaet, without downy tracts. Hill as 

 long or longer than head, straight and slender; tibia extensively 

 naked ; tarsus scutellate ; toes rather short ; hind toe highly ele- 

 vated ; nasal bones schizorhinal. Genera 3; species 15 ; of various 

 parts of the world, resembling herons in external form, but similar 

 to the rails in general structure. 



376. GRUS Linnaeus. (Lat., crane.) 



7.39. G. americana (L.). WiioonvG Ckaxk. White Crane. 

 Adult pure white with black on wings ; bare part of head very 

 hairy ; young rusty, the head feathered. L. 50. W. 24. T. 9. 

 Ts. 12. B. 6. N. Am.; rare E., a wild bird, avoiding civiliza- 

 tion. " The windpipe is quite as long as the bird itself, 50 inches 

 or more, and over 2 feet of it coiled away in the keel of the breast- 

 bone, which is entirely hollowed out to receive these extraordi- 

 nary convolutions; the voice is singularly raucous and resonant." 

 (^Coues.) 



740. G. mexicana (Miiller). Sand-hill Crane. Brown 

 Crane. Slaty gray or brownish, never white; head sparsely 

 hairy. L. 40. W. 22. B. 5^. T. 9. Ts. 10. U. S., chielly S. 

 and \V. 



Family CXLII. RALLID^. (The Rails.) 



Birds of medium or small size, with comj)res5ed bodies and large 

 muscular legs. Wings short, rounded, concave ; t;\il very short, 

 of 10 or 12 soft feathers. Hind toe rather .short, a little elevated; 

 front toes very long. Bill various, rather short, not sensitive at 

 tip. Plumage blended, changing little with age, sex, or season. 

 Species about 150, of most parts of the world, skulking in swamps 

 and marshes, gathering their food chielly from the surface. 



a. Forehead feathered; no frontal shield. (RiiUimr.) 



b. Bill slender, decurved, longer than head, with narrow nasal profve, and 



linear nostril Halli's, 377. 



bb. Bill stout, straiRht, not longer than head, with broad na-sal ^nxive and 



obloii;; nostril PoKZANA, 378. 



aa. Forehead covered with a broad, bare, horny shield. 

 C. Toes scarcely or not lobate. {(Jullinulitur.) 



d. Nostrils small, oval Ionohnis, .179. 



dd. Nostril* slit-like Gai.li.m'LA, 380. 



cc. Toe« lobate, edged Willi bruud Haps. (Fulidna.) ■ . Fuuca, 381. 



