same' writers ■©■mit to distinguish* eparat«dy,!'.ns_ has been done by
jsome Germajas and Italians; - It will not bfe, useless .here to bear
in mind that eveh the two chi#f divisions d!f this natural gem®f
pass so- insensibly into each other as -to' make it impossible- to
separate tjbje connecting species, so that a grea.t many Brasilian
Rails are arbitrasfly placed in either siibgenüs, notwithstanding
that the extremes—which among thefourNorth American Species
may' be exemplified’ by this,.i#ie Yellow-breasted namely», and
the4 Virginia RaiLr-are lm widely different: and this furnishes
additional proof of the inexpediency o£v llatnàm?s arrangement,
however it may haW/’si®teeflb©en admired and, imitatedi.:. Our
genus Rail, which , we-maintain to be natuia.1, though lost Ly
related tW;GaMizma, and esrpeciaHi JPorphyrio, is easily known. at
once^from'ithem all Htjf. th# feathered front, common to aid. the
§petÆes -, :
bill; varying -»in length, whiclk afibrds the; peïinàiitf
distinguishing the two subgenera, is in all the Rails mote or-JMsis
thick, at -bas,e, generally straights -and always* ©<pnpres;sed -^the
upper- mandible" is furrowed each- side, somewhat- vault%d. and
^UE^ed .at tip, its base extending upwards between the feathers of
the ‘front : the nostril’s, placed in the furrow, are medial, o^long-tat
longitudinal, open and pervious beneath, and covered at basé bva*
membrane (by which conformation they differ essentially from thb
Porphyn®s?)i: the tongue is moderate, narrow, compressed, entire,
.acute* fibrous, at tip :^the forehead, is feathered : the body very
compressed and thin flanked. The'naked space on-the: tibia is
small, thé tarsi ra®b,equal to, the middle to£;-somewhat compressed,
s6 as, 'to make up for the want of membrane in the analogy to the
WebfoQtêd, that other'less aquatic wading birds exhibit.JiAYe
arc particular, in remarking this,£or the toes, afe-entirely divided,
and, the ;decttr#ent .membrane extremely, narrow. The hind, toe
equals in length one phalanx: of. the middle;. and is - inser tedi a
little higher than .the %bhdii#j the nails are- short, compressed;
curved; and acute-Sh'&T'fee - first primary is1 shorter than the fifth;
^lisebofid’iHhird, Sid fourth being tl^E^g eS -t^’ The tail js very
sb&4 the feathers ftaccMy not appearing from beneath the edverts.
'wBjmfe female is generafi^&jvtoagh. not alway s, similar to Bttb
'msfc; an ‘^ceptifoto beipg met with' in one of the small European
^•peeiesy-'M^he ycftagt differ mri'Chifrom the adult. -JOsKvey moult
twiee^year.1''''
The’ bM of the* smbg^nus Rallus (Wife' Rails,) may -be th ri|;
?c^^iibedl:' ttegCt thaiL thteyhead, ^lfetfder, straight,- s'ubequal
throughout,■ eompresshd. at base,pj||lmdrical and obtuse at 'thfe
•point*; ripper mandible furrowedtheyomb tljfcibase’-: nostrils' mewste
ihrisal, linear.
® In ' the Crakes, of whijjch»the present is an example, the .bill is
'sh^rori than the head; robust/ much higher than broad at base,
taphrmg, compressed and ''acutes at the point: - uppert$aandible
furrowed • a t ' base only, a little curved at tip:- the lower- is
navicular: tbe nostrils-'exactly medial, -oblong.5 Apparentlystth©
group is-reksy to dtefine; but as if nature/ tdik delight in baffling
|®1®F--iattemptsiat exactness, the -species are found to .pas s'front o-nfc
iferm .to another by niSfe* and insfesible degrifesf •
This Rail, like all others, Vlabi^'* swamps* marshes, and the
margins of ditches and lakes: By a-.singular coincidence,
it was in the-market ofi-New York that,-in the beginning Of
February, 1 ^ 6 , 1 first met With this pretty.jspecies, which appears
i#s£ have - le a p e d ' the industrious research of 'Wilson, although
found equally in Pennsylvania in winter; whMe^ifeis, .however,
very rare. We can hardly (believe befound in tbe south
or sbuth-westihotwithstanfdm^lw©'havesbeen credibly informed of
the circumstanced But'-we haye no'hesitation in-declaring it an
arctic-bird, for we domofe.ddri»that itrtsffthe Hudsonian Quail of
Latham, thus miscalled by superficial observers on account of its