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FAMILY XXXIII. — RALLINiE. RAILS. 
Bill moderately stout, or slender, short or elongated, compressed, with tho 
point narrow, but obtuse. Head small, oblong, compressed ; neck of mode- 
rate length ; body large, much compressed. Feet large ; tibia bare at the 
lower part ; tarsus stout, compressed, with very broad anterior scutella ; toes 
very long, scutellate, marginate ; hind toe rather short. Claws long, little 
arched, compressed, acute. Plumage blended, but stiffish. Wings short, 
convex, rounded ; tail very short, rounded. Tongue slender, channelled 
above, tapering to a bristly point ; oesophagus long, rather narrow ; proven- 
triculus bulbiform ; stomach roundish, compressed, very muscular, with the 
lateral and inferior muscles prominent, the epithelium dense, with two flattish 
grinding surfaces ; intestine long, of moderate width ; coeca long, narrowed 
toward the base ; cloaca globular. Trachea simple, flattened, with a pair of 
slender inferior laryngeal muscles. Nest bulky, and rudely constructed, on 
the ground, or supported by grass, or on trees. Eggs numerous, oblong. 
Young covered with stiffish black down. 
Genus I.— GALLINULA, Briss. GALLINULE. 
•Bill as long as the head, nearly straight, stout, deep, compressed, tapering ; 
upper mandible with a soft ovate or oblong tumid plate at the base, extending 
over the forehead, the dorsal line behind this slightly declinate, toward the 
tip arcuate, the ridge gradually narrowed to the middle, then slightly 
enlarged, the sides nearly erect, the edges sharp, the notches obsolete, the 
tip rather obtuse ; nasal sinus extending nearly to the middle ; lower mandible 
with the angle rather long and narrow, the dorsal line ascending, nearly 
straight, the sides nearly erect, the tip narrow. Nostrils submedial, lateral, 
oblong, direct. Head small, oblong, compressed ; neck of moderate length ; 
body large, much compressed. Feet large; tibia bare at the lower part; tarsus 
stout, of moderate length, compressed, with very broad anterior scutella ; 
hind toe rather small and slender ; anterior toes very long, fourth longer than 
second, third considerably longer, all scutellate. Claws very long, slender, 
