^4 



RALLID.E. 



GRALLATORES. 



RALLID/E. 



THE WATER RAIL. 



Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 114. 



Mont. Ornith. Diet. 



Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 134, 



Flem. Brit. An. p. 98. 



Selby, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 172. 



Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 217. 



Goui.D, Birds of Europe, pt. iv. 



Temm. Man, d'Ornith. vol. ii. p. 683. 



Rallus. Generic Characters. — Beak longer than the head, slender, slightly 

 curved downwards, compressed at the base, cylindrical at the point ; upper 

 mandible grooved at the sides. Nostrils lateral, pierced longitudinally in the 

 lateral groove, partly covered by a membrane. Legs long and strong, with a 

 small naked space above the joint ; three toes before, and one behind ; the 

 anterior toes divided to their origin, the hind toe articulated upon the tarsus. 

 Wings moderate, rounded ; the first quill-feather much shorter than the second, 

 the third and fourth quill-feathers the longest in the wing. 



The Water Rail, though Mcll known as a species, is 

 not very abundant here ; while the habits of the bird, and the 

 nature of tlie localities it frequents, increase the difficulty of 



