326 



RALLID^E. 



THE family of the Rails, which we place last, as 

 being the most truly aquatic of the Grallatores^ 

 is composed of birds, whose habits are skulking ; 

 during the day, frequenting meadows or marshes, 

 and the banks of lakes and rivers, and there hiding 

 themselves among the thick herbage which covers 

 the localities selected by them. In the typical 

 families, we saw the power of flight amply deve- 

 loped, in some instances, showing great swiftness 

 and a capability of being long sustained ; among the 

 Rails, on the contrary, the wings are short and con- 

 cave, the flight in the greater number awkward and 

 fluttering ; but, to compensate for this, the feet and 

 legs are adapted for running, and the whole form 

 is narrow, and when the neck is stretched out, is 

 pointed and fitted for threading through a vegetation, 

 which may be at once thick, and, at the same time, 

 strong and matted. Many of them also swim and 

 dive readily, and the feet are so constructed in those 

 which are not natatorial, as to enable them to tread 

 and walk with ease upon soft mud, and even over 

 the large leaves of water plants. Many of them, 

 however, differ, and come nearer the Rasores in 

 building or constructing nests of a large fabric, and 

 in laying a number of eggs. The British genera 

 are limited. 



