154 THE GREAT RED-BREASTED RAIL. 



Bill much longer than the head, slender, compressed, very slightly curved, 

 deep at the base. Upper mandible with the dorsal line almost straight until 

 towards the end, where it is slightly curved, the ridge flattish at the base, 

 and extending a little on the forehead, convex towards the end; a deep 

 groove runs on either side parallel to the ridge for two-thirds of the whole 

 length; the edges inflected, with a very slight notch close to the tip. 

 Nostrils lateral, linear, direct, open and pervious. Lower mandible with the 

 angle very long, extremely narrow, the sides erect, slightly convex, the 

 edges inflected, the tip narrowed. 



Head small, oblong, much compressed. Neck long and slender. Body 

 slender, much compressed. Feet long; tibia bare a considerable way above 

 the joint; tarsus rather long, strong, compressed, anteriorly covered with 

 broad scutella, posteriorly with smaller, and on the sides reticulated; hind 

 toe very small and slender, middle toe longest, fourth considerably shorter, 

 and but little longer than the second; toes free, scutellate above, compressed, 

 granulate beneath; claws of moderate length, arched, slender, much com- 

 pressed, acute, fiat, and marginate beneath. 



Plumage rather stiff, compact and glossed on the upper parts. Feathers of 

 the head and neck short and blended; of the forehead with the shaft enlarged, 

 and extended beyond the tip. Wings very short and broad; alula large; 

 primaries curved, broad, tapering but obtuse, third longest, second scarcely 

 shorter, first and seventh about equal; secondaries weak, broad, rounded. 

 Tail very short, much rounded, of twelve feeble rounded feathers; the upper 

 and lower coverts nearly as long as the tail-feathers. 



Lower mandible and edges of upper brownish-yellow; ridge of upper, 

 and tips of both, deep brown. Iris bright red. Feet yellowish-brown, 

 tinged with olive; claws of the same colour. Upper part of head and 

 hind neck dull brown, the bristle-like shafts of the frontal feathers brownish- 

 black; a brownish-orange line from the bill over the ej^e; a broader band of 

 the same colour from the lower mandible, the intermediate space dusky; 

 chin white. The upper parts in general are streaked with brownish-black 

 and light olive-brown, the two sides of each feather being of the latter 

 colour. Wing-coverts dull chestnut, most of them irregularly tipped with 

 brownish-white. Alula and primaries deep olive-brown; secondaries and 

 tail-feathers like the back. Sides and fore part of the neck, and greater part 

 of the breast, bright orange-brown; sides and lower wing-coverts undulated 

 with deep brown and greyish-white; tibial feathers pale greyish-brown, 

 faintly barred with darker, as is the hind part of the abdomen, the fore part 

 being uniform pale greyish-brown; lateral lower tail-coverts white, each 

 with a blackish-brown spot near the end; those in the middle barred with 

 black and white. 



