110 



GRALLATORES. 



RALLIED. 



RALLIDJE. 



THE WATER RAIL. 



Rallus aquations. 



Rallus aquaticuS) Water Rail^ 



Common 

 Water 



5' 



Rale tfeau, 



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, pt. iv. 



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 man- 

 dible 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 mode- 

 rate, 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 



