254 KEY AND DESCRIPTION 



wMte, with a chestnut tint on the sides of the neck. The 

 male is much duller. The small size, lobate toes, slender bill, 

 and swimming habits will readily distinguish this bird from 

 any other in the inland regions. 



Length, 8-10 ; wing, 5 (45-5J) ; tail, 2J ; tarsus, IJ ; culmen, IJ. 

 Temperate America, mainly inland ; breeding from Illinois and Utah, 

 north into the British Provinces, and wintering south to Patagonia. 



ORDER X. RAILS, CRANES, ETC. (PALUDICOL^) 



An order of wading birds, differing widely in external pecul- 

 iarities, but associated together because of structural charac- 

 teristics. 



FAMILY XLIL RAILS, GALLINULES, AND COOTS (RALLID^) 



This large family (180 species) of mainly marsh-living birds 

 is readily divided into three groups, both by habits and ex- 

 ternal peculiarities. (1) The Rails form the largest and most 

 characteristic of these subfamilies. They have short bills, 

 narrow, compressed bodies, long toes, and short, upwardly 

 turned tails. They inhabit marshes closely covered with reeds 

 and rushes, and their peculiarly narrow bodies fit them to pass 

 without trouble anywhere they wish between the plants, and 

 their long toes enable them to walk with ease and safety over 

 the softest mud, or even over floating weeds. (2) The Gallinules 

 are brightly marked, chicken-like birds of marshes and reed- 

 grown borders of ponds and lakes. They swim well and appear 

 in their swimming like coots, which they also resemble in 

 having a horny shield or plate on the forehead; ' but they are 

 like the rails in having long toes without lobes along their 

 edges. (3) The Coots are swimming birds the size of small 

 ducks, with the legs much longer, and the toes lobed ' instead 



