feut .blind capricó$ eoéld. separate from th©m;)^is surprisingly
natural, The bill is sh'ört, or. of moderate-length in thd long*
lp^led Rails, hard, thick at, ther-baSe', straight, eompresfètb entire*
curved a tth te p b in t, and sharp o n 'th e edges.* • The head is
small, the seek well proportioned; tfee bodyaÖeffider and. jte c h
compapssed, TMffeéfr-iare- moderate, rather rbbust, and ‘wS^öut
exception -fbun-toed: the naked- space on the tibia is rather
limited; -te* -ttrshs nq* longer, .generally shorter than the middle
tee, and wutellated: 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 al most -on a, level with the -others,
resting tin the ground a good p a rt of'.its length: .tbe^pails are
slender, compressed, and acute. rThe wings rather short, wide,
somCWhat* -Tounded, concave and • tuberculated; the first primary
is not much shorter than the second, the third or foiirth being the
longest.. The tail isrishort,and of'-twelve feathers-..
' The female isrsimaller, hut otherwise differs, little from thé
other se rf,th f young often differ Trom thé adults : Oven those th a t
moult twice ima year dii> not change their colours' in-moulting. -
All these hirds’-hayo-very similar hdbits: they are all solitary;
ad fond of .epficealment and the .immediate neighbourhood o‘f
water ? they ifeqve nimbly about bn marsh plants, walking on the
softest mud?'maid1 -tefea• ■ Abating weeds* their, charuetferistie long
toes serving admirably the purpose of a broad base. ; Their food
is snaall animals,--seeds. :and Vegetables. They^ are" monogamous,
and Tbreed teveröl times in the. year; they ■'build their nests on, or
closeyo the watfer^-some being even afloat, and therefore liable to
be carried away in floods*-. The number óf eggs varies from five
id.sixteen, and. they are rounded': both sexes alterifStelygit^iipon
them.-; - Theymung run about under the p^pntal-care, and provide
for themselves as soon as- hatched; tjiey are remarkably brisk
and lively, being born with a thick' down of. a beautiful velvet
((slack colour, whatever else it' -may* ’finhRy’ Re£$me,, ‘Those that
migrate travel by n ight: owing to their short rounded wings,
compcfsed of flaccid feathers,' their flight is s-low and limited,-and
hv.no means rapid; so .that thhy’only huve,rfegpu#a to it in the
lhflpkttemity, wten it is;,performed witfrfth “ egs hanging down'4
by. a way peculiar to' themselves, and not stretched, out as in the
other Waders, or drawn up tq^hq-rbelly as in the generality of
birds. It is in running- that th ey ^ ^ e ^M rd with theirdodg compressed
body they make their Wa^A adroitly'and swiftly amongst
the grass or weeds', that their pursue^ aaVlCft far behind. They
also',swim well, and even divag>ccasif|j|Lally w h ^ ith e re ^ . necessity
for it, t Their flight is however rapid when elevatedv and ■ fairly
started. Their voice-is strong hut'hoarse. Their; flesh is well-
fiavoured.