WATER RAIL. 



OR ALL A TORES. 





THE WATER RAIL. 



Rallus aquations. 



Rallus aquaticus, Water Pail, 



Common 

 Water 





 Rale d'eau, 



PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 114. 



MONTAGU, 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. 



GOULD, Birds of Europe. 



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 well known as a species, is 

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

 the nature of the localities it frequents, increase the diffi- 



