314 GERANOMORPHZ. 
f. cinctus is perhaps a rarer bird than the last, being known only from the types 
procured by Arcé. The two forms may eventually prove to be male and female of the 
same species. 
Order GERANOMORPH 4 *. 
Following the arrangement proposed by Huxley in 1867, we include in this Order 
the schizognathous birds ordinarily known as Rails and Cranes. The characters, 
chiefly osteological, are given by him as follows (cf. P. Z. S. 1867, p. 457) :—“ The 
rostrum is relatively stronger than in the Charadriomorphe, and may even be short 
and arched ; basypterygoid processes are absent (except in Grus antigone); the maxillo- 
palatines are concavo-convex or lamellar; the angle of the mandible is truncated; the 
sternum in the typical groups is comparatively narrow and elongated, and may be 
deeply notched or entire; the feet vary greatly, but the toes are never completely or 
even extensively webbed ; and the ratio of the phalanges is as in the Charadriomorphe ; 
a greater or less space above the suffrago is devoid of feathers, but there appears to be 
nothing characteristic about the pterylosis of this group.” 
Since Huxley wrote, many additional characters have been put forward by Sclater, 
Lydekker, Seebohm, Sharpe, and others, and, as a result, two distinct groups, Fulicariz 
and Alectorides, are recognized by the last-named naturalist in the ‘Catalogue of Birds,’ 
corresponding to the Ralliformes and Gruiformes of his later ‘ Classification.’ We 
recognize, therefore, two Suborders—the Fulicarie and the Alectorides—as adopted 
in the ‘ Nomenclator Avium Neotropicalium.’ 
Suborder FULICARIA. 
Among the many osteological characters given by Mr. Lydekker for this Suborder 
(‘ Catalogue of Fossil Birds,’ pp. 143, 144), the following are of particular importance. 
_ He describes the Fulicarie as ‘ schizognathous” birds, having the angle of the mandible 
truncated, the coracoid with a large subclavicular process, and the delto-pectoral crest 
and facet for the pectoralis minor in the humerus normal; there is no ectepicondylar 
process on the humerus, and in this respect it resembles that of the Alectorides. 
The Rails, which are the principal representatives of the Fuliecarie, have holorhinal 
nostrils, and a single notch on each side of the posterior margin of the sternum. In 
outward appearance they are chiefly remarkable for their slender and compressed 
bodies, adapted for threading their way in the swamps and reed-beds which most of 
them frequent. Representatives of this suborder are found in the New World, 
amongst which the Fin-foots (Helvornis) are perhaps the most peculiar of the Neotro- 
pical forms. 
* I have to acknowledge Dr. R. B, Sharpe’s assistance with the Rails and the rest of the birds to be dealt 
with in this volume.—F, D. G. 
