RALTJN.^:. 
OCYDROMUS  Wagl* 
very  strong,  with  the  culmen  slightly  curved  and  the  sides  much  compressed  to  the 
slightly  emarginated;  the  gonys  short  and  ascending;  the  nostrils  lateral,  and  placed  in  the 
^ith^^^^  ^ membranous  groove,  with  the  opening  oval  and  exposed.  Wings  very  short  and  rounded, 
he  fifth  and  sixth  quills  equal  and  longest ; the  secondaries  and  the  coverts  lenjjthened  and  verv 
sott,  V *7  ^ J 
au  more  or  less  lengthened,  round  and  soft.  Tarsi  robust,  shorter  than  the  middle  toe  and 
With  transverse  scales.  Toes  long  and  strong,  with  the  inner  toe  rather  shorter  than  the  outer, 
IXi^  hirirl  4.  ' 
toe  short,  and  rather  slender,  the  claws  moderate  and  rather  acute. 
Th 
species  is  foimd  in  New  Zealand,  where  it  inhabits  the  open  country  near  the  sea-coast,  living  on  the 
grass,  or  in  thickets  of  low  bushes,  whence  it  can  easily  spring  on  small  birds  perched  on  the 
considc^^  ground.  It  seems  to  seek  its  food  during  the  dusk  of  the  evening  or  in  the  moonlight,  and  that  is 
time  to  hunt  for  specimens.  They  feed  on  shell-fish,  worms,  and  young  bii'ds,  and  run  with  great 
^•’ees  scratch  the  earth  like  the  domestic  fowl,  and  conceal  themselves  in  holes  in  the  ground  at  the  roots  of 
. - ” -7 Ill  iiKJi^is  111  tiiu  ^lUUllU  iXl.  UlU  lUULS  Oi 
'-t  night  and  in  rainy  weather  they  utter  a melancholy  note.  The  female  lays  from  three  to  five  eggs,  and  the 
*=  ^re  protected  and  fed  by  the  parent  until  they  are  nearly  full  grown. 
k 0. 
^'^®glod  ***^^*^“^'*  (Sparrm.)  Strickl.  Mus.  Carls,  t.  14.  — Rallus 
ine^  Desc.  Anim.  p.  110.,  Icon.  ined.  126.,  Ellis, 
koy.  p ’ G.  R.  Gray,  DiefF.  Trav.  N.  Z.  App.  p.  107., 
re  . & Terr.  Birds,  pi.  1,5. 
3.  O.  brachypterus  (Lafr.)  Rev.  Zool.  1841.  p.  24.9.  Mag.  de 
Zool.  1842.  Ois.  t.  24 T.vpe  of  Gallira'lus  Lafr.  (1841). 
Established 
by  Wagler  in  18.90  {^System  der  Anipfiifnen,  p.  08.).  Gallirallus  of  Baron  de  Lafresnaye  (1841)  is  synonymous. 
November.  1 846. 
