V GRUIDAE 25s 
known, while the lobed toes are noticed above. The smaller F’ 
lugubris of Sumatra, Java, and Celebes is hardly distinct ; the North 
American F. americana and the Australian #. australis are very 
similar; the Andean #. gigantea is extremely large; while the 
red frontal caruncles of the Bolivian / cornuta and of the African 
and South-European / cristata have already been mentioned. 
Of fossil Rallidae an extraordinary number are found, ranging 
from the possibly toothed Z'elmatornis of the American Cretaceous 
rocks, Gypsornis, Orthnocnemus, Klaphrocnemus, and Tapinopus of 
the FrenchUpper Eocene, and Fal/us of both Eocene and Miocene 
of the same country, to Fulica minor of the Pliocene of Oregon. 
Of more recently exterminated forms we have 7ribonyx (2) roberti 
from Central Madagascar, the long-billed flightless Aphanapteryx 
broecki and Fulica newtoni from the Mare aux Songes in Mauri- 
tius, Porphyrio caerulescens from Reunion, and the “ Poule Rouge ” 
(Erythromachus lequati) from Rodriguez. In New Zealand are 
found the large Aptornis defossor and A. otidiformis, with two 
species of NVotornis; in the Chatham Islands Diaphorapterya 
hawkinsi and Ocydromus insignis—all six flightless ; in the latter 
islands, too, an extinct Fulica (Palaeolimnas) occurs, and in Norfolk 
and Lord Howe Islands Notornis alba, as above. Queensland fur- 
nishes Porphyrio mackintoshi,P.reperta, Tribonyx eflucus,Gallinula 
strenurpes, G. peralata, and Fulica prior. The Sandwich Islands 
may possibly yet contain Rallus sandvicensis and Pennula ecau- 
data, further instances of flightless species, but this is improbable. 
Fam. IT. Gruidae.—The Cranes are very old forms,superficially 
somewhat like Herons, and often confounded with them in local par- 
lance—as is the case in Scotland and Ireland. They are among the 
largest of Waders, and are scattered over most of the globe, except 
the Malay islands, Papuasia, and Polynesia ; but in the Neotropical 
Region they are mere migrants from the north, never found 
south of Mexico. Their headquarters are in North-East Asia, 
while America possesses only three species, and Australia one. 
These long-necked and long-legged birds have a moderate bill, 
straight and rather compressed, which varies from slender to stout, 
with a lateral groove on each side of the mandible and nasal furrows 
about halfway down the maxilla; in Lalearica this feature is com- 
paratively short. The metatarsus is scutellated in front, reticu- 
lated behind; the tibia is partly bare; the toes are short and 
stout, the anterior being more or less connected at the base by a 
