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The Australian Jacana.
(Genus: Hydralector.)
The handsome Jacanas of S. America, Africa, India, China and Australia are relatives of our Water-hens. As a whole the family is remarkable for the extraordinary development of the toes and claws, which are so long that at first sight they seem grotesque and rather absurd. They are, however, eminently practical, and admirably suited to the habits of the birds, which frequents lakes and quiet rivers where they live upon insects, running over the floating leaves of the water-lily and other aquatic plants. Our picture shows the brilliantly coloured beak of a species of Jacana found in northern parts of Australia.