302 BIRDS. GltALLATOllES. 



ble channelled ; nostrils lateral, longitudinally cleft in the fur- 

 row, half-closed by a membrane ; legs long and stout, with a 

 small naked space above the knees, the three anterior toes 

 divided, the posterior articulated on the tarsus ; wings round- 

 ed, the third and fourth feathers longest. 



The body of these birds is much compressed and loaded with fat, and they run more 

 than they fly. Their chief residence is in the immediate neighbourhood of fresh 

 waters, overgrown with herbage and shrubs ; and their food principally consists of 

 worms, insects that have no wing-cases, slugs, vegetables, and seeds. 



R. aquations, Lin. Water Rail. Throat whitish ; sides of the head, 

 neck, breast, and belly lead-coloured ; flanks of a deep black, 

 transversely banded with white ; feathers of the upper parts red- 

 dish-brown, and black in their middle ; bill reddish. 9J inches 

 long. Inhabits Europe. B Shaw, xii. pi. 25. 

 The Water Rail flies slowly, with its legs hanging down, and generally alights at no 



great distance from the spot from whence it first arose- When running, it flirts up 



its tail and exposes the white of the under tail-coverts. It wades in the water, swims, 



occasionally dives, and forms its nest among aquatic plants. 



R. Australis, Tern. Plumage ashy rust-coloured; wings and tail 

 dark-brown, the feathers banded with black. 17 inches long. In- 

 habits New Zealand Shaw, xii. 206. 



Gen. 29. GALLINULA, Briss. Rallus, Lin. 



Bill shorter than the head, compressed, conical, deeper than 

 broad at the base ; the ridge advancing on the forehead, and, 

 in some species, dilated into a naked plate; tips of both man- 

 dibles compressed, and of equal length, the upper slightly 

 curved, the lower forming an angle ; nostrils lateral, in the 

 middle of the bill, longitudinally cleft, half-closed by a mem- 

 brane, which covers the large nasal furrow ; legs long, naked 

 above the knee ; fore-toes long, divided, and furnished with a 

 narrow edging. 



The birds of this genus, like the Rails, have their body much compressed. They 

 swim with ease, dive with facility, run with speed on land, and often on the leaves of 

 aquatic plants on the surface of the water. Their food consists of insects and vege- 

 tables. The males are only distinguished from the females in their colours being 

 brighter ; and the young do not acquire their mature plumage till the second year. 

 These birds composed part of the genera Rallus and Ful'ica of Linnaeus ; but were 

 properly brought together by Latham under the present generic term. 



* Ridge of the upper mandible between the feathers of the fore- 

 head, but not dilated into a plate. 



G. crex, Lath. Land-Rail or Corn-Crake. Plumage gray above, 

 rufescent white beneath ; wings reddish-rusty ; bill and legs brown- 

 ash ; feathers of the body reddish -brown, the upper ones blackish 

 in the middle ; a large ash-coloured eyebrow prolonged on the 

 sides of the head ; chin very pale ; irides hazel. 9 J inches long. 

 Inhabits Europe. B. Shaw, xii. pi. 26. 



The Land-Rail is a migratory species, appearing in Britain about the latter end 

 of April, and departing about the middle or close of September. In Ireland it is 

 supposed to remain throughout the year. On its first appearance, and until the fe- 



