R A L 



11 A L 



bill and legs are red. It is found, as its nainc imports, at 

 Ceylon ; it is larger than the R. aquaticus, and has a long 



tail. 



AusTRALis; Troglodyte Rallus. Rully a(h ; wings and 

 tail deep brown ; the feathers are barred with black. It 

 inhabits New Zealand, and is feventeen inches long. The 

 bill and legs are yellowifh ; the body above is of a rufty 

 brown, beneath ruity a(li ; quill and tail-feathers are waved 

 with black. 



Pacificus ; Pacific Rallus. Black, fpeckled with white ; 

 wings barred ; body beneath whitilh ; the head is brown, 

 the bread is of a blueilli-afh. It is found in Otaheite, and 

 the neighbouring illes. Bill red, the legs are of a flefli co- 

 lour ; the chin and eye-brows are white ; the nape of the 

 neck is rufty. 



Tabuensis ; Tabuan Rallus. Brownifli-black ; beneath 

 it is of a dalky colour ; the bill is black, and the legs are 

 bay. A variety has its vent ftreaked with black and white ; 

 the legs are red. It inhabits the South-fea iilands, and is fix 

 inches and a half long. The eye-lids and irides are red. 



NiOEH ; Black Rallus. Black ; bill red at the bafe, 

 brown at the tip ; the legs arc brown or red. This is an 

 African bird, and is nine inches long. 



San'Duickxsis ; Sandwich Rallus. This is of a pale fer- 

 ruginous colour ; but the bill is of a dnfky afh ; the legs are 

 of a dull flefh colour. A variety has a yellowidi bill and 

 legs. It inhabits the Sandwich iflands ; and another variety 

 is very fmall, and found in the Tanna ides. 



Taitiensis ; Otaheite Rallus. Cinereous ; body above 

 red-brown ; the bill, rounded tail, and claws, are black. 

 This inhabits Otaheite and the Friendly ifles, and is about fix 

 inches long. The quill-feathers are dufky and edged witii 

 white ; the legs are yellow. 



Obscurus ; Dulky Rallus. This is brown ftreaked with 

 black, beneath it is of a rufty brown ; tlie bill is black, and 

 the legs are of a red-brown. It inhabits the Sandwich 

 iflands, and is fix inches long ; the edge of the mandibles is 

 yellown'fh. 



LoNGiROsTRis ; LcJTig-billed Rallus. The upper part of 

 this fpecies is cinereous, fpotted with brown, beneath it is 

 rufty white ; the flanks are tranfverfely waved with white, 

 the bill is long and of a ferruginous colour. It inhabits Ca- 

 yenne, and is from nine to twelve inches long. The bill 

 is tipt witli brown ; the legs are yellowifh, and the chin 

 whitifti. 



Variegatus ; Variegated Rallus. This bird is ftreaked 

 and fpotted with white and black; the hind-head is dufl<y ; 

 the bill is yellowilli ; the chin is white ; and the legs are yel- 

 low. It inhabits Cayenne, and is eleven inches long. The 

 wings are brown, the coverts are fpotted with white ; fome 

 of the middle tail-feathers are edged with wliite. 



Cayenkexsis ; Cayenne Rallus. The crown of this 

 bird is rufous ; the body above is of an olive-brown ; be- 

 neath it is rufous ; the ocular band is blackifh ; the quill- 

 feathers are black ; the bill is brown, and the legs bay. 

 There is a variety having its crown bay ; chin and vent 

 reddifti-white. It inhabits Cayenne and Guiana ; it is eight 

 inches long : in the evening it is noify and gregarious, by 

 day it is folitary ; it builds in the forked branch of a fhrub, 

 near the ground. The vent is pale. 



Jamaicensis ; Jamaica Rallus. Above reddifh-brown 

 with black ftreaks ; the bill and chin are black ; the throat 

 and breaft are of a blueifti-afii ; the belly is marked with 

 white and brown lines. It, as its name imports, inhabits 

 Jamaica, and is fix inches long. The bill is reddifti at the bafe ; 

 wing-coverts brown, fpotted w-ith white ; the quill-feathers 

 arc oi a reddiili-brown, with black lines, the fecondaries 



and tail-feathers are fpotted witli white, and the legs 

 brown. 



MiN'U Tus ; the Little Rallus. This is" brown, but be- 

 n 'ath it is yellowifti ; eye -brows, ftreaks on the back, and 

 fpots on the wing-coverts, white ; tail barred black and 

 white. A variety has the middle ot the neck above rufous ; 

 the belly and vent arc waved with black and white. It in- 

 habits Cayenne and Jamaica, and ie- five inches long. The 

 bill is brown ; the wing-coverts are black ; the chin is 

 vvhitifh, and the legs are yellow. 



PusiLJ.u.s ; Dwarf Rallus. Strij)ed with ferruginou* 

 and black ; the body beneath is blackifh, with narrow white 

 bands ; the throat and breaft are blueifh. This is found near 

 fait lakes of Dauria, and is of the fize of a lark. The 

 face, neck beneath, and middle of the breaft longitudinally, 

 are blueifh ; the middle of the chin is whitifb ; the longitu- 

 dinal band through the eyes of a pale rufty colour ; the 

 back is fcattered with white longitudinal lines ; the legs are 

 grecnifli. 



Baubaricus ; Barbary Rallus. This is of a ferruginous 

 colour ; the bill is black ; the wings are fpotted with white ; 

 the rump is ftreaked above with white and black, and be- 

 neath with white ; the legs are of a dufliy brown. This, as 

 its name imports, is an inhabitant of Barbary, and is the fire 

 of a plover. 



Dl'BIUs; Doubtful Rallus. Striped with brown and 

 ferruginous ; the belly is white'; the flanks are barred with 

 brown and rully afh ; the firlt quill-feathers without are 

 longitudinally white. It is the fize of the common gallinule. 

 The face is of a pale rufty colour ; the chin is of a dirty 

 white, furrounded with a broad brown collar ; the fides are 

 brown ; the bill and legs greenifh-black. 



RALLYING, in (Far, the reafiembling, or calling toge- 

 ther of troops, broken, routed, and put to flight. 



RALPH, James, in Biography, a mifcellaneous writer, 

 defcended probably from mean parentage, was the intimate 

 friend of Dr. Franklin, who fpeaks of him as ingenious and 

 fhrewd, genteel in his addrefs, and extremely eloquent. 

 Franklin knew him in America, and though he does not 

 mention what Ralph's fituation then was, yet as he wrote 

 3 fine hand, and was well verfed in accounts, it is imagined 

 he was a fchoolinafter. In 1725 Ralph accompanied Frank- 

 lin to England, with a refolution of not returning to 

 America, where he left his wife, with whom, and with whofe 

 family, he had lived on ill terms. In London he was, for, 

 a coniidcrable time, fupported by his friend Franklin, till 

 their intimacy was difiblved, when Ralph confidered the 

 quarrel as a complete difcharge of the debt which he owed 

 his benefaftor. Ralph changed his name to that of Frank- 

 lin, which he thought necefl'ary, having formed a new 

 female connexion, and fettled as a fchoolmafter in a village 

 in Berkfliire. From this time there is no regular narrative 

 of his life, which was probably pafied as a hired party 

 writer. He is fpoken of with much contempt in the Dun- 

 ciad, as the author of a poem called Night : — 



" Silence, ye wolves I while Ralph to Cynthia howls, 

 And makes night hideous — Anfwer him, ye owls." 



In a note, it is faid he wrote a fwearing piece, entitled 

 " Sawney," very abufive of Swift, Gay, and Pope ; that 

 he panegyrifed his own works in the journals, was wholly 

 iUiterate, wrote plays, and was employed in a political 

 nevvfpaper. The fatire of Pope muft be taken with much 

 limitation, it being infpired by party motives : Ralph hav- 

 ing recommended himfelf to perfons in power at the begin- 

 ning of George II. 's reign, would for that reafon be ob- 

 noxious t© Pope and his friends. He became an able 

 1 2 writer 



