746 U. S. P, R. E EXP. AND SURVEYS — ZOOLOGY — GENERAL REPORT. 



A. Balleae. — Foreliead feathered to the ba,'se of bill ; culmen parting the frontal feathers for 

 a short distance only, and in an angle. 



Kalltjs. — Bill slender, longer than the head ; nasaJ groove extending beyond the middle 



of the bill ; the elongated nostrils within the basal third of the commissure. Hind 



toe about one-third the tarsus. 

 PoEZANA. — Bill thick, about equal to or shorter than the head ; culmen straight, or a 



little depressed near the nostrils ; gonys ascending. Nostrils reaching beyond the 



middle of the commissure. Hind toe about half the tarsus. 



B. Fuliceae. — Base of the bill extended on the forehead for a greater or less distance, as a 

 naked, flattened, and rounded or quadrate plate. 



GtALLINULA. — Toes without marginal lobes ; the lateral membrane very slightly developed. 



Nostrils linear. 

 Poephteula. — Somewhat similar to Gallinula. Nostrils small, nearly circular. 

 Fdlica. — Toes with a well developed marginal membrane, which is incised at the joints 

 into a series of semicircular lobes. 

 The genera Heliornis, which has usually been ranged with the Totipalmi, is, by Burmeister 

 and Reichenbach, placed near Fulica. A species, S. surinamensis, is said to have been occa- 

 sionally seen in the United States. 



As in the Limicolae the following account of the Paludicolae has been prepared by Mr. John 

 Cassin. 



Sub-Family RALLINAE. 



RALLUS, Linnaeus. 



Rallus, Linnaeus, Systema Naturae. 



Ch. — Bill longer than the head, rather «lender, compressed ; upper mandible slightly curved ; nostrils in a long groove, and 

 with a large membrane ; wings short ; tertiary quills long, frequently longer than the primaries ; tail very short ; legs moderate ; 

 tarsus shorter than the middle toe, and covered on all sides with transverse scales ; toes long and rather slender ; inner toe 

 rather shorter than the outer ; hind toe short and weak. 



This genus contains about twenty species, inhabiting all the temperate countries of the worlds 

 and very similar in their habits and frequently in appearance. Their long toes enable them to 

 run over and climb amongst aquatic plants with great facility. 



EALLUS ELEGANS, Aud. 



' King Rail; Maish Hen. 



Rallns elegans, Aud. Orn. Biog. Ill, 1835, 27 ; pi. 203.— Ib. Syn. 215 — Ib. Birds Am. V, 1842, 160 ; pi. 309.— 



Gdndlach, Cab. Jour. 1856, 427. 

 Ralhis crepitans, Wils. Am. Orn. VII, 1813 ; pi. Ixii, f. 2. (Not the description.) 



Sp. Ch — The largest species of the United States. Upper parts olive brown, with longitudinal stripes of brownish black, 

 most numerous on the back ; line from the base of the bill over the eye dull orange yellow ; space before and behind the eye 

 brownish cinereous. Throat and lower eyelid white ; neck before and breast bright rufous chestnut ; sides and abdomen, and 

 under tail coverts, with transverse bands of brownish black and white, the dark ban4s being the wider ; tibiae dull yellowish 

 white, with spots and transverse bars of ashy brown. Upper wing coverls reddish chestnut ; under wing coverts black, with 

 transverse lines of white. Sexes alike. Total length, (from tip of bill to end of tail,) about 17 inches; wing 6J ; tail 3 

 inches. 



Hab. — Middle and southern States on the Atlantic ocean ; California, (Dr. Suckley.) 



