398° AVES. 
me Rauuus, Linn. 
The Rails, which, in other respects, have a strong, mutual re- 
semblance, present bills of very different proportions. 
Among the species in which it is longest, the Rattus, 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; common in ponds, &c., where it swims 
well, and runs lightly over the leaves of aquatic plants; it feeds 
on small shrimps, and its flesh has a marshy odour.(1) 
Other species have a shorter beak, Crex, Bechsty; among which 
we find 
Ral. crex, L.; Le Rale de genéts, Enl. 7503 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 
celerity. 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 grain, as well as on worms and insects. . 
Ral. porzana,L.; La Marouette, Enl. 7513 Frisch, 211; Naum. 
31, f. 42. (The Little Spotted Rail.) A deep brown dotted 
with white; flanks marked with whitish stripes; found in the 
vicinity of ponds, and constructs a nest with reeds, that has the 
form of a wherry, which it fastens to the stem of some one of 
those plants; it is a good swimmer and diver, and does not leave 
France till the middle of winter.(2) 
(1) There is a variety or species at the Cape, Mallus cxrulescens, Cuv., the 
black and white stripes of whose abdomen are merely a little more extended. Add 
ofthe Water Rails: Lal. virginianus, Edw., 729; Wils. LXII, 1;—crepitans, Ib. 2;— P 
longirostris, Enl. 849;—variegatus, Enl. 77 5;—philippensis, Enl. 774;—torquatus;— 
striatus;—the Fulica cayennensis (which is a true Rail), Enl. 352, as well as the. 
Gallinula gigas, Spix, xcix;—sarracura, Id. XCVIIN;—mangle, Id. ‘XCVI—rufi 
ceps, Id. XCVI, and cxria, Id. XCV.—The Ral. fuscus, Enl. ane begins to have : a 
shorter bill. * 
(2) There are two other Rails in murope with short ‘oe smaller than the 
porzana, R. Bailliont, Vieill. Dict., and &. pusillus, Naum., 32, F. 43. Amon 
these short beaked Rails may be placed the Ral. cayennensis, Enl. 753 and 368;— 
minutus, Enl. 847;—jamaicensis, Edw. 278;—noveboracensis, Vieill. Gal. 266;— 
nigro- lateralis; Lichten.;—carolinus, Edw. 144, Wils. 48, 2; s—Galhinula. _eurizona, 
T. Col. 417;—G. rubiginosa, 1d. Col. 387. 
The Ral. benghalensis, Gm., isa Ethynchea. 
4 
