262 
POPULAR HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
Of the tropical Grall^ few are more prettily plumaged 
than the species of Parra, called in India " Tank-runners/^ 
from being common birds in the vicinity of tanks^ and from 
their running over the large leaves of the water-lilies and 
other plants which grow in such places. The toes in the 
birds of this genus are of great lengthy and so are the claws ; 
the sole of their feet has therefore, like the great snow-shoe 
of the Esquimaux, a most extensive surface, over which the 
weight of the bird is diffused and easily supported. 
Mr. J erdon mentions two species as being very common 
in India ; the Parra Indica and the Hydropkasianus Sinensis, 
or Golden-necked Tank-runner (Plate XVIII. fig. 2). These 
birds feed on seeds and vegetable matter, and are also 
fond of the shelled moUusca and water-bugs which abound 
in their favourite places of resort. 
The Parra gallinacea, Temm., was found by Mr. Gilbert 
at Port Essington; and, in his notes furnished to Mr. 
Gould^, he records that its powers of diving and remaining 
under water are equal to those of any bird he ever met with. 
He found this curious species in four or five small families 
in different parts of a lake ; they were usually occupied in 
feeding from the aquatic floating plants, over which the 
* Birds of Australia, 
