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FLORIDA GALLINULE. 
but blind caprice could separate from them,) is surprisingly 
natural. The bill is short, or of moderate length in the long¬ 
billed Rails, hard, thick at the base, straight, compressed, entire, 
curved at the point, and sharp on the edges. The head is 
small, the neck well proportioned; the body slender and much 
compressed. The feet are moderate, rather robust, and without 
exception four-toed: the naked space on the tibia is rather 
limited; the tarsus not longer, generally shorter than the middle 
toe, and scutellated: the toes are three before and one behind, 
remarkably long, (the most obvious trait of the family,) slender, 
quite divided, and edged with a decurrent membrane : the hind 
toe is rather long, articulated almost on a level with the others, 
resting on the ground a good part of its length : the nails are 
slender, compressed, and acute. The wings rather short, wide, 
somewhat rounded, concave and tuberculated; the first primary 
is not much shorter than the second, the third or fourth being the 
longest. The tail is short, and of twelve feathers. 
The female is smaller, but otherwise differs little from the 
other sex: the young often differ from the adults: even those that 
moult twice in a year do not change their colours in moulting. 
All these birds have very similar habits : they are all solitary; 
all fond of concealment and the immediate neighbourhood of 
water: they move nimbly about on marsh plants, walking on the 
softest mud, and even floating weeds, their characteristic long 
toes serving admirably the purpose of a broad base. Their food 
is small animals, seeds and vegetables. They are monogamous, 
and breed several times in the year: they build their nests on, or 
close to the water, some being even afloat, and therefore liable to 
be carried away in floods. The number of eggs varies from five 
to sixteen, and they are rounded : both sexes alternately sit upon 
them. The young run about under the parental care, and provide 
for themselves as soon as hatched; they are remarkably brisk 
