122 GEALL^._rULICARLffi. 



Order GRALLiE 



Includes Eails, Crakes, Water-Hens, Water-Cocks, Moorhens, Coots, Finfoots, 

 Cranes, Limpkins or Courlans,* Sun Bitterns,* Kagus,* Trumpeters,* Bustards, 

 and Florikins. Hind toe, when present, slightly raised. Legs generally long, 

 and part of tibia is bare. Breast-bone with one or two notches on each side of 

 posterior margin, or none. Oil-gland tufted, or none. Schizognathous, or birds 

 with vomer narrow behind, pointed in front ; maxillo palatines free. Young are 

 hatched covered with down and able to run (except in Heliornithidce, where the 

 young are helpless and nearly naked). Eggs double-spotted, one set of spots 

 distinct and deeply coloured on the surface, the second set purplish orgrey, less 

 distinct, and apparently beneath the surface. 



Suborder FULICARI^. 



A single notch on each side of posterior margin of breast-bone. Oil-gland 

 tufted. Hind toe present and raised (Mesitidce excepted). Young are hatched 

 covered with down and able to run or swim at once (Heliornis excepted). Includes 

 Eails, Crakes, Water-Hens, Water-Cocks, Moorhens, Coots, and Finfoots. 



Family EALLID^. 



Eallus=thin. 



The Eails, Crakes, Water-Hens, and Coots are marsh birds, varying in length 

 from 4J^" to 21 J". The breast-bone resembles that of Turnix with its single notch. 



Bill short and wedge-shaped, longer in True Eails, shorter and stouter in Crakes, 

 and very deep in the Gallinules. Large feet, short legs. Hind toe always raised. 

 Tail short, of ten to fourteen feathers, or none. Wing rounded, often with spur. 

 Second or third quill longest, sometimes two, three, four subequal. Eemiges 

 twenty-three to twenty-six. Fifth secondary wanting. Small after-shaft. Forehead 

 feathered or with a shield. Feet slender and long. Toes free, or sometimes 

 webbed and scalloped. 



Extensively represented in Australia and Oceania ; less so in Malayan Islands. 

 General aspect and partially vegetable diet give them the appearance of Gallinaceous 

 birds. Many eggs double-spotted. Nest in grass or rushes. Young hatched 

 with down, and able to run or swim within a few hours. Cosmopolitan. 



Subfamily Eallin^. Eails. 

 No frontal plate. Beak much compressed. Plumage soft and loose, brown, 

 streaked, and often banded. Sexes alike in colour. Mostly of smaU size. 



(i.) Oulmen longer than mid toe and claw. Tarsus equal to or less than 

 mid toe and claw. 



Genus RALLUS. 

 Ballus, the Latinised form of the French B&le (spelt Sasle in B^lon, 1555) ; our Sail, Dutch 

 Bal; akin to rattle. 



Bill longer than head (tip slightly curved) and grooved for two-thirds of length. 

 Nostril in groove nearer base of bill than tip. Forehead of bristly feathers. 



* Not represented in India. 



