360 GRALL.E. RALLID^. 



caeca branched off, the left longer by half an inch 

 than the right. I could find no gall-bladder. The 

 body, when divested of the integuments is com- 

 pressed, but not so decidedly as in either Herons or 

 Rails. 



In the male bird the trachea at the distance of 

 about two inches above the furcula, takes an im- 

 mense convolution, forming a complicated knot ; 

 the form of the turnings is not always the same, 

 nor is their extent ; I have seen one much more 

 complicated than in the specimen dissected by Mr. 

 Eyton,* and some less so. The volutions are con- 

 nected by a mesentery. At the point where the 

 bronchi divaricate, the trachea dilates into a large 

 oval box. In the female the trachea is quite simple, 

 having no trace of the convolution, nor of the 

 bronchial box. I hence infer that the loud start- 

 ling cries are uttered only by the male. As in 

 the Rails, the abdominal viscera are very large ; 

 the caeca in particular, when distended, are enor- 

 mous. 



Robinson states that the Aramus feeds upon 

 snakes, toads, and lizards, as well as wood-snails, 

 and gully-crabs, yet not on his own observation, 

 but on the authority of "people of credit, who 

 have seen junks of undigested snakes and lizards 

 taken out of their craws." This is not confirmed, 

 however, by my own observation, gasteropod mol- 

 lusca having been found in every specimen I have 

 examined. Mr. Hill's observation does not con- 

 firm the former statement. Of one which was 

 * Ann. and Mag. of N.H., Jan. 1846. 



