Genus RALLUS or TYPICAL RAILS. 



Type RALLUS AQUATICUS. 



Rallus of LinnEeus (1766). — The birds comprising the 

 present genus are characterised by their long, slender bill, longer 

 than the head, and by having the forehead covered with feathers 

 to the base of the culmen. The wings are moderately long, but 

 rather rounded ; the tail is short. The legs are rather long, and 

 the lower part of the tibia devoid of feathers. The bill is long, 

 and slightly decurved ; nostrils longitudinal, placed in a groove, 

 and partly shielded by a membrane. Three toes in front, long, 

 cleft to the base ; hind toe small and articulated. 



This genus is composed of about fifteen species, which are 

 nearly cosmopolitan, being inhabitants of all the great zoological 

 regions, with the exception of the Australian region and Arctic 

 latitudes. One species is a partial resident in the British Islands. 



The Rails differ very little from the Crakes in their habits and 

 economy, and in the localities they affect. They are birds of the 

 swamps and marshes, of slow and laboured flight, making bulky 

 nests of aquatic vegetation amongst the herbage of their haunts, 

 and their eggs are numerous and spotted. Their notes are shrill 

 and unmusical. They are monogamous. Their food is very 

 similar to that of the Crakes. 



