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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: PYR-RAY |
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RAIL . (1) (From- Fr. Rdle, cf. Ger. Ralle, Low Lat. Rallus, of unknown origin), originally the English name of two birds, distinguished from one another by a prefix as land-rail and water-rail, but latterly applied in a much wider sense to all the species which are included in the family Rallidae. The land-rail, also very commonly. known as the corn-crake, and sometimes as the daker-hen, is the Rallus crex of Linnaeus and Crex pratensis of recent
young
The water-rail, locally known as the skiddy or billcock, is the Rallus aquaticus of ornithology, and seems to be less abundant than the preceding, though that is in some measure due to its frequenting places into which from their swampy nature men do not often intrude. Having a general resemblance to the land-rail,' it can be in a moment distinguished by its partly red and much longer bill, and the darker coloration of its plumagethe upper parts being of an olive brown with black streaks, the breast and belly of a sooty grey, and the flanks dull black barred with white. Its geographical distribution is very wide, extending from Iceland (where it is said to preserve its existence during winter by resorting to the hot springs) to China; and though it inhabits Northern India, Lower Egypt and Barbary, it seems not to pass beyond the tropical line. It never affects upland districts as does the land-rail, but always haunts wet marshes or the close vicinity of water. Its love-note is a loud and harsh cry, not continually repeated as is that of the land-rail, but uttered at considerable intervals and so suddenly as to have been termed " explosive." Besides this, which is peculiar to the cock-bird, it has a croaking call
The various species of rails, whether allied to the former or latter of those just mentioned, are far too numerous to be here noticed. Hardly any part of the world is without a representative of the genera Crex or Rallus, and every considerable country has one or perhaps more of each though it has been the habit of systematists to refer them to many other genera, the characters of which are with difficulty found. Thus in Europe alone three other species allied to Crex pratensis occur more or less abundantly; but one of them, the spotted rail or crake, has been made the type of a so-called genus Porzana, and the other two, little birds not much bigger than larks, are considered to form a genus Zapornia. The first of these, which used not to be uncommon in the eastern part of England, has a very near representative in the Carolina rail or sora, Crex caroling, of North America, often there miscalled the ortolan, just as its European analogue, C. porzana, is in England often termed the dotterel. But, passing over these as well as some belonging to genera that can be much better defined, and other still, more interesting forms of the family, as Aphanapteryx, coot (q.v.), moor-hen (q.v.) and ocydrome
' Formerly it seems to have been a popular belief in England that the land-rail in autumn transformed itself into a water-rail, resuming its own characters in spring .to the rails, are now generally admitted to be Limicoline, while the genus Aramusthe courlan or limpkin of the southern United Statesstill occupies a very undetermined position. (A. N.) (2) (Through O.Fr. reille, from Lat. regula
horizontal
wood
train or tram runs (see RAILWAYS).There are two other words " rail ": (a) an obsolete word (O.E. hragel), for a garment; often in the compound " night-rail "; and (b) a verb, to abuse, use angry language, from Fr. railler, possibly from the same root as Lat. radere, to scrape. The word is also seen in " rally," to banter, tease (distinguish, however, " rally," to bring together, especially of defeated troops (from Fr. rallier; re, again, and allier, ally, Lat. alligare)). End of Article: RAIL If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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