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Show 398 AVES. RALLus, Linn. The Rails, which, in other respects, have a strong, mutual resemblance, present bills of very different proportions. Among the species in which it is longest, the RALLus, Bechst.,is placed Ral. aquaticus, L.; Rale d'eau d'Europe, Enl. 749; Naum. 20, f. 41 ~ (The Water Rail.) A fawn coloured brown, spotted ~vith blackish above; bluish ash colour beneath; the flanks strtped with white and black; common in ponds, &c., where it swims well, and runs lightly over the leaves of aquatic plants; it feeds on small shrimps, and its flesh has a marshy odour.( I) Other species have a shorter beak, CREx, Bechst., among which we find Ral. ·crex, L.; Le Rale de genets, Enl. 750; Frisch, 212, B; Naum. 5, f. 5. Fawn coloured brown, spotted with black above; greyish beneath; flanks streaked with black; red wings. It lives and builds in the fields, running through the grass with great celerity. Its name, Crex, expresses the sound of its note. It has been called the Qua-il-King, because it arrives and departs with those birds, and leads a solitary life on the same grounds, from which arose the conjecture that it was their leader. It feeds on grain, as well as on worms and insects. Ral. porzana, L.; La Marouette, Enl. 7 51; Frisch, 211; Naum. 31, f. 42. (The Little Spotted Rail.) A deep brown dotted with white; flanks marked with whitish stripes; found in the vicinity of ponds, and constructs a nest with reeds, that has the form of a wherry, which it fastens to the stem of some one of those plants; it is a good swimmer and diver, and does not leave 1 France till the middle of winter.(2) ( 1) There is a variety or species at the Cape, Rallus CIEJ'Ulescens, Cuv., the black and white stripes ofwhose abdomen are merely a little more extended. Add ofthe Water Rails: Ral. virginianus, Edw., 729; Wils. LXII, 1;-crepitana, Ib.2;longirostris, Enl. 849;-variegatus,Enl. 775;-philippensis, Enl. 774;-tarquaiw;; striatus;-the Fulica cayennensis (which is a true Hail), Enl. 352, as well as t; Gallinula gigas, Spix, xcix;-sarracura, Jd. XCVlll;-mangle, I d. XCVI[;-ru · ceps, Id. XCVI, and creria, Id. XCV.-The Ral.fuscus, Enl. 773, begins to have& ~~u~. b (2) There are two other Rails in Europe with short beaks, smaller than t e porzana, R. Baillioni, Vieill. Diet., and R. pusillus, Naum., 32, F. 43. A;:~ these short beaked Rails may be placed the Ral. cayennensis, En~ . . 753 and 3 66 :_ minutua, Enl. 847 ;-jamaicensia, Ed w. 278 ;-noveboracensia, V IeJll. Gal. 2. 'a nigro-lateralia, Lichten.;-carolinus, Edw. 144, Wils. 48, 2;-Gallinula eurtzon' T. Col. 417;-G. rubiginoaa, Id. Col. 387. The Ral. benghalensia, Gm., is a Rhyncluea. GRALLATORilE. 399 FuLicA, Lin. The Coots may be divided as follows, from the form of the beak and the appliances of the feet. GALLINULA, Briss. and Lath. Or the Water Hens. The beak very similar to that of the Ground~ Rail, from which these birds are distinguished, by the shield on the forehead, and by very long toes, furnished with a very narrow border. Fulica chloropus, L.; La Poule d' Eau commune, Enl. 87'1; Frisch, 209; Naum. 29 and 38. (The Water-Hen.) A deep brown above; slate-grey beneath, with some white on the thighs, along the middle of the lower part of the abdomen, and on the external edge of the wing. The young, Fulicafusca, Gm., Paulette d'eau, Buff., are more lightly coloured, and have a larger frontal escutcheon.( I) PoRPHYRia, Bl'iss. The beak higher in proportion to its length; very long toes, with~ out any very sensible border; the frontal shield large, rounded in some, and square above in others. These birds stand on one foot, using the other to convey their food to the beak. Their colours are usually fine shades of blue, violet and aqua-marina. Such is Fulica porphyrio, L.; Poule Sultane Ordinaire; Edw. 87, a beautiful African bird, now naturalized in several islands and coasts of the Mediterranean.(2) Its beauty would render it an ornament to our pleasure grounds. FuLioA, Briss. The True Coots, in addition to a short beak and a large frontal shield, have their toes much widened by a festooned border that renders them excellent swimmers, in consequence of which their (1) The Poule d'eau ardoisee del' Inde, Vieill. Gal. 268, hardly differs from the common one;-the P. d'eau tachetee, or the Grinette, F. 1Ul!'Via, Alb., II, 73, is only 1 young Ral. crex. Add· Ral. pluenicurua, Enl. 896. Add Gal. martinica, Gm.; Wils. IX, pl.lxxiii, f. 2. .11m. Ed. (2) The Ful. maculata, jlavipea and fotulans, originally rest on some bad figures of Gesner, from drawings which had been .sent to him. But the Ful. marlinit4 andjlavirostris are true nhynchreas. The marlinica is in Vieill. Gal. 267. !ddthe Taleve d manteauverd (Porph. amaragnotus, T.), Enl. 910;-the T. d manteau noir (Pri'M'Ih, melanotos T.)·-the T. meunier (P. pulverulentus, T. ), Col. 405 -·r ' 1 hT V ;-the T. emeraudine (P. amaragdinus, T.) Col.421;-theP. albua, L. P 11p., oy. to Bot. Llay, p. 273; J. White, p. 238. |
