326 
RALLIDAi. 
The family of the Rails, which we place last, as 
being the most truly aquatic of the Grallaiores, 
is composed of birds, whose habits are skulking ; 
during the day, frequenting meadows or marshes, 
and the banks of lakes and rivers, and there hiding 
themselves among the thick herbage which covers 
the localities selected by them. In the typical 
families, we saw the power of flight amply deve- 
loped, in some instances, showing great swiftness 
and a capability of being long sustained ; among the 
Rails, on the contrary, the wings are short and con- 
cave, the flight in the greater number awkward and 
fluttering ; but, to compensate for this, the feet and 
legs are adapted for running, and the whole form 
is narrow, and when the neck is stretched out, is 
pointed and fitted for threading through a vegetation, 
which may be at once thick, and, at the same time, 
strong and matted. Many of them also swim and 
dive readily, and the feet are so constructed in those 
which are not natatorial, as to enable them to tread 
and walk with ease upon soft mud, and even over 
the large leaves of water plants. Many of them, 
however, differ, and come nearer the Rasores in 
building or constructing nests of a large fabric, and 
in laying a number of eggs. The British genera 
are limited. 
