GRALLATORIA. 353 
‘the first and slight vestige of the spur of the Palamedew. The membrane 
between the external toes is very short; between the internal ones it is 
somewhat larger. The eggs are very disproportionate in size to that of 
the bird. 
One species is tufted almost like the Chavaria,—the Mégap. Du- 
perrey, Less. and Garn., Voy. de Duperr. Zool., pl. 37. Two others, 
the M. de Freycinet and M. de Lapeyrouse, Quoy and Gaym. Voy. 
de Freycin, pl. 28 and 27, and Col. 220, are destitute of the tuft®*. 
A fourth, which is smaller, the dlectelie de Durville, Voy. de Dup., 
pl. 38, appears to have no tail. . 
Of the tribe whose wings have no armature, Linnezus comprises in his 
genus Fulica such as have their bill prolonged into a sort of shield, 
which partly covers the forehead; and, in his genus Rallus, those in 
which this peculiarity does not exist. 
Rattus, Lin. 
The Rails, which, in other respects, have & strong, mutual resemblance, 
present bills of very different proportions. 
Among the species in which it is longest, the Raxxus, Bechst., is 
placed 
Ral. aquaticus, L.; Rale d’eau d’ Europe, Enl. 749; Naum. 20, 
f.41. (The Water Rail). A fawn-coloured brown, spotted with 
blackish above; bluish ash colour beneath; the flanks striped with 
white and black; it swims very well in ponds and rivulets, and runs 
lightly over the leaves of aquatic plants; it feeds on small shrimps, 
and its flesh has a marshy odour} 
Other species have a shorter bill, Crex, Bechst., among which we 
find 
Ral. crex, L.; Le Rale de genéis, Enl. 750; Frisch, 212, B; 
Naum. 5, f.5. Fawn-coloured brown, spotted with black above; 
greyish beneath: flanks streaked with black; red wings. It lives 
and builds in the fields, running through the grass with great cele- 
rity. Its name, Crex, expresses the sound of its note. It has been 
called the Quail-King, because it arrives and departs with those 
birds, and leads a solitary life on the same grounds, from which arose 
the conjecture that it was their leader. It feeds on pak as well as 
on worms and insects. 
Ral. porzana, L.; La Marouette, Enl. 751; Frisch, 211: Naum. 
* The Mégap. Duperrey is called Tavon in Manilla. Although hardly as large as 
a partridge, it ee an egg equal jin size to that of a goose. Add the Mégap. a pieds 
rouges, Col. 4 
rf There is a are: or species at the Cape, Rallus cerulescens, Cuy., the black and 
white stripes of whose abdomen are merely a little more extended. Add, of the 
Water Rails: Ral. virginianus, Edw. 729; Wils. LXII, 1;—erepitans, Ib. 2;—longi- 
‘rostris, Enl. 849;—variegatus, Enl. 775 ;—philippensis, Enl. 774;—torquatus ;—stria- 
tus ;—the Fulica cayennensis (which is a true Rail), Enl. 352, as well as the Gallinula 
gigas, Spix,xcix;—sarracura, Id. XCVIII;—mangle, Id. KCVII;—ruficeps, Id. XCVI, 
and ceria, Id. XCV.—The Ral. fuscus, Enl. 773, begins to have a shorter bill. 
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