3 So RAILS. 



diving and swimming Coot to the terrestrial Land-rail, and exhi- 

 biting modifications of the typical form according to the nature 

 of the locality tenanted, be it lake, morass, or meadow. The 

 members of this family are so constructed as to be able to thread 

 their way through beds of the thickest stems of reeds, bulrushes, 

 and other aquatic plants, among which they seek shelter or con- 

 cealment, — or, as in the case of the land-rail, through the tall 

 grass of the meadow, — and that so rapidly and noiselessly, that 

 they elude pursuit with great ease, and seldom can be forced to 

 take wing. To adapt them to such a mode of life, the shape of 

 their body is much compressed on the sides, owing to the struc- 

 ture of the breast-bone, which is very narrow. In all, the toes are 

 long and spreading, enabling them to pass over soft ooze, or even 

 the flat leaves of the plants which float in close array upon the 

 surface of the water. Their beak is generally strong, often re- 

 markably so ; but in this respect there is much variety in different 

 genera. Many of them swim habitually and with facility. The 

 feet of most of the species, however, are divided, and without 

 webs ; but in some (the Gallinules) the toes arc bordered along 

 their sides by a narrow edging, which is an extension, as it were, 

 of the sole of the foot. The plumage of the Rallidae is soft and 

 loose, and their wings, with a few exceptions, are short and 

 rounded. They feed upon aquatic plants, grasses, and seeds, as 

 well as on worms, insects, and mollusca. They generally make 

 a large nest, and lay numerous eggs. Some of them are remark- 

 able for their loud and, in certain instances, very peculiar, harsh- 

 sounding voice, in uttering which, during the early morning or 

 towards evening, they indulge with most persistent perseverance, 

 — a circumstance that has procured for them the cognomen of 

 Crakes. Their general aspect and their partially vegetable diet give 

 them the appearance of Gallinaceous birds, and several have in 

 consequence received popular names significative of this resem- 

 blance. F'rom the smallncss of their wings, and the feebleness of 

 the muscles that move them, their powers of flight are very limited. 

 They fly heavily, near the ground, and to a very short distance ; 

 their flight, moreover, is almost always in a straight line, a cir- 

 cumstance no doubt depending on the extreme shortness of their 

 tail, by which the flight of the bird is principally directed. They 

 trust, therefore, to their legs, and run with extraordinary speed, 

 sometimes doubling upon their track, and dashing between the 

 very legs of the sportsman when he fancies them far away; some- 

 times, however, when very hard pressed, they Avill have recourse 



