The Rails are among the most widely distributed families of birds, many of the genera being cosmopolitan, and several of the species ranging over half the globe. They are found in many remote islands; and in some of these—as the Gallinula of Tristan d'Acunha, and the Notornis of Lord Howe's Island and New Zealand,—they have lost the power of flight. The classification of the Rallidæ is not satisfactory, and the following enumeration of the genera must only be taken as affording a provisional sketch of the distribution of the group:—
Rallus (18 sp.), Porzana (24 sp.), Gallinula (17 sp.), and Fulica (10 sp.), have a world-wide range; Ortygometra (1 sp.), ranges over the whole North Temperate zone; Porphyrio (14 sp.), is more especially Oriental and Australian, but occurs also in South America, in Africa, and in South Europe; Eulabeornis (15 sp.), is Ethiopian, Malayan, and Australian; Himantornis (1 sp.), is West African only; Aramides (24 sp.), is North and South American; Rallina (16 sp.), is Oriental, but ranges eastward to Papua; Habroptila (1 sp.), is confined to the Moluccas; Pareudiastes (1 sp.), the Samoa Islands; Tribonyx (4 sp.), is Australian, and has recently been found also in New Zealand; Ocydromus (4 sp.); Notornis (2 sp.), (Plate XIII. Vol. I. p. 455); and Cabalus (1 sp.), are peculiar to the New Zealand group.
The sub-family, Heliornithinæ (sometimes classed as a distinct family) consists of 2 genera, Heliornis (1 sp.), confined to the Neotropical region; and Podica (4 sp.), the Ethiopian region excluding Madagascar, and with a species (perhaps forming another genus) in Borneo.
Extinct Rallidæ.—Remains of some species of this family have been found in the Mascarene Islands, and historical evidence shows that they have perhaps been extinct little more than a century. They belong to the genus Fulica, and to two extinct genera, Aphanapteryx and Erythromachus. The Aphanapteryx was a large bird of a reddish colour, with loose plumage, and perhaps allied to Ocydromus. Erythromachus was much smaller, of a grey-and-white colour, and is said to have lived chiefly on the eggs of the land-tortoises. (See Ibis, 1869, p. 256; and Proc. Zool. Soc., 1875, p. 40.)
Family 100.—SCOLOPACIDÆ. (21 Genera, 121 Species.)
| General Distribution. | |||||
 | |||||
| Neotropical Sub-regions. | Nearctic Sub-regions. | Palæarctic Sub-regions. | Ethiopian Sub-regions. | Oriental Sub-regions. | Australian Sub-regions. |
| 1. 2. 3. 4 | 1. 2. 3. 4 | 1. 2. 3. 4 | 1. 2. 3. 4 | 1. 2. 3. 4 | 1. 2. 3. 4 |
The Scolopacidæ, comprehending the Snipes, Sandpipers, Curlews, and allied genera, are perhaps as truly cosmopolitan as any family of birds, ranging to the extreme north and visiting the remotest islands. The genera of universal distribution are the following:—
Numenius (16 sp.); Limosa (6 sp.); Totanus (12 sp.); Tringoides, (6 sp.); Himantopus (6 sp.); Tringa (20 sp.); and Gallinago (24 sp.). Those which have a more or less restricted distribution are:—
Ibidorhyncha (1 sp.), Central Asia and the Himalayas (Plate VII. Vol. I. p. 331); Helodromas (1 sp.), Palæarctic region and North India; Terekia (1 sp.), East Palæarctic, wandering to India and Australia; Recurvirostra (6 sp.), Nearctic region to the High Andes, South Palæarctic, East and South Africa, Hindostan and Australia; Micropelama (1 sp.), North America to Chili; Machetes (1 sp.), Palæarctic region and Hindostan (Plate I. Vol. I. p. 195); Ereunetes (3 sp.), Nearctic and Neotropical; Eurinorhynchus (1 sp.), North-east Asia and Bengal; Calidris (1 sp.), all regions but Australian; Macrorhamphus (3 sp.), Palæarctic and Nearctic, visits Brazil and India; Scolopax (4 sp.), the whole Palæarctic region, to India, Java, and Australia; Philohela (1 sp.), East Nearctic; Rhynchæa (4 sp.), Ethiopian and Oriental, Australia, and Temperate South America; Phalaropus (3 sp.), North Temperate zone, and West Coast of America to Chili.
Family 101.—CHIONIDIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)