327 



RALLUS. Generic characters. Bill long, slender, 

 compressed, towards the tip subcyiindrical and 

 slightly curving ; nasal furrow long and wide ; 

 nostrils linear and pierced near the centre of 

 its length ; wings short, concave, rounded, 

 third and fourth quills longest; carpal angle 

 often armed with a spine ; legs of mean length ; 

 bare above the tarsal joint ; feet long, slender ; 

 toes cleft to the base ; hallux short, articulated 

 near the plane of the others. 



Type, E. aquaticus, &c. Cosmopolite. 



Note. Habits aquatic ; skulking ; lay numerous 

 eggs ; perch on rails or low trunks of trees ; 

 feathers of the forehead with the shafts pro- 

 longed into horny points 



