176 



ON THE WATER-RAIL. 



The Water-Rail was considered by the older na- 

 turalists, as belonging to a different genus from the 

 Corncrake. Linnaeus, however, included both in 

 the same genus, Rallus ; but his example in this 

 case, has been followed by few ornithologists. The 

 Corncrake has been restored to its proper place ; 

 and the Water-Rail is now regarded as the type of 

 the genus Rallus, now characterized by the follow- 

 ing marks : 



Bill slender, lengthened, slightly arched, compres- 

 sed at the base, rounded towards the tips where the 

 edges of the two mandibles are incurved. 



Nostrils, pervious, linear, placed at the inferior 

 margin, towards the base of a groove which ex- 

 tends two-thirds the length of the upper mandible. 



Tongue narrow, nearly the length of the bill, 

 and jagged at the ends. 



Legs and claws compressed, and the outer toe at 

 the first joint united with the middle one by the 

 rudiment of a web. 



The Water-Rail bears a near resemblance to the 

 Corncrake, in the remarkable compressed shape of 

 the body ; but it differs in the superior length of 

 the bill and toes, and in the structure of the nos- 

 trils. It differs in another circumstance still more 

 remarkable, the bastard wing being armed with a 

 spine about an eighth of an inch in length. 



This last character appears to have been hitherto 

 overlooked by naturalists, although it is by no means 

 difficult to detect. Cuvier, indeed, in his late ad- 



