COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 3y7 



the form of their bill : ihey live in the same 

 way as the storks, but their large and flattened 

 bill, being weaker than that of the stork, seems 

 rather calculated to seize small fishes, or to seek 

 insects and worms in the mud. The European 

 spoon-bill is white, that of America of a beau- 

 tiful rose colour, which becomes brighter with 

 age. The lower shelves of this case, and all 

 those of the following, are occupied by the nu- 

 merous family macvodactjla, which compre- 

 hends the rails, the jacanas, the screamers or 

 kamichis, the water fowls, sea partridges, and 

 flamingos. Some have very long and slender 

 claws, which enable them to walk on marshy 

 ground, and support themselves on the grass ; 

 others have their feet furnished with mem- 

 branes, often dentated, which facilitate their 

 swimming. They form the passage from the 

 grallce to the palmipedes. Thirty species of rails 

 furnish the lower shelves of the forty -fifth case- 

 That which is called rallus crex lives and nidifi- 

 cates in the plains (i) ; the others remain in 

 marshes, run rapidly on the grass and swim. 

 Such are the water rails which feed on shrimps ; 

 the spotted rail (rallus porzana) , which builds 



(1) This bird has been also called the king of quails, because it 

 arrives and sets off with them, which led to the belief that it served 

 them as a guide. 



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