326 RALLID &. 
5. Creciscus ruber. 
Corethrura rubra, Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1860, p. 277'; P. Z. S. 1860, p. 800°. 
Porzana rubra, Scl. & Salv. P. Z. 8. 1868, p. 452°; Exot. Orn. p. 31, t. 16 *; Salv. Ibis, 1889, 
p. 378°; 1890, p. 89°. 
Creciscus ruber, Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxiii. p. 143°. 
Castaneus, dorso postico brunnescentiore ; remigibus sepiariis ; cauda nigra; pileo et facie laterali schistaceis ; 
corpore toto subtus saturate ferrugineo; abdomine pallidiore, corporis lateribus, subcaudalibus et axil- 
laribus saturate castaneis; subalaribus castaneis, nonnullis albidis, ad basin fuscis. Long. tota circa 6:0, 
alee 3:4, caude 1-45, culm. 0°8, tarsi 1:25. (Descr. exempl. typ. ex Coban. Mus. nostr.) 
Hab. Mexico, Cozumel I. (Gaumer®®7); British Honpuras (Blancaneaue '); Guate- 
MALA 34 (Skinner !, Constancia'), Vera Paz?7, Coban ', Choctum 7, Lake of Duefias ‘ 
(0. 8S. & FD. G.). 
The uniformly coloured axillaries and flanks, bright chestnut or ferruginous under 
surface, grey crown and sides of face, chestnut back, and black tail, mark C. ruder as’ 
a very distinct species. It appears to have a somewhat restricted range in Central 
America, as will be seen from the localities given above. 
Nothing has been recorded of its habits. 
GALLINULA. 
Gallinula, Brisson, Orn. vi. p. 8 (1760) ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 167 (1894). 
The Water-hens, of which the European G. chloropus is the type, are distinguished 
from the Rails and Crakes by their extremely long toes and heavy Fowl-like bodies, 
The middle toe and claw are longer than the tarsus. The plumage is somewhat 
sombre and there is a bare red shield on the forehead. 
The genus is jound throughout the temperate and tropical portions of the globe. 
In the southern areas the species are resident, but those which breed in the north are 
more or less migratory during the winter season. Of the six species known, one alone 
is American. 
(1. Gallinula galeata. 
Crea galeata, Licht. Verz. Doubl. p. 80°. 
Gallinula galeata, Bp. Amer. Orn. iv. p. 128, t. 27. fig. 1°; Taylor, Ibis, 1860, p. 814°; Lawr. 
Ann. Lye. N. Y. vill. p. 184°; Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. p. 312°; Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. 
no, 4,p. 50°; Salv. Ibis, 1866, p. 198"; 1870, p. 115°; 1889, p. 378°; Scl. & Salv. P. Z.S. 
1868, p. 462° ; Sumichr. La Nat. v. p. 229"; Nutting, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. vi. p. 409”; 
Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. Water-Birds N. Amer. i. p. 388%; Herrera, La Nat. (2) i. 
pp. 186“, 8327; Stone, Pr. Acad. Philad. 1890, p. 203"°; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. 
xxiii. p. 17777; A. O. U. Check-list N. Amer. Birds, 2nd ed. p. 81”. 
Crex chloropus (nec L.), Licht. Preis-Verz. Mex. Vég. p. 3°; Cab. J. f. Orn. 1868, p. 59”°. 
Supra saturate brunnea, vix olivascens, scapularibus dorso concoloribus ; tectricibus alarum sordide schistaceis ; 
remigibus et rectricibus nigris; pileo colloque undique nigris; interscapulio et corpore reliquo subtus 
plumbescentibus, plumis pectoris imi et abdominis albido plus minusve marginatis; subcaudalibus nigris, 
lateralibus conspicue albis; hypochondriis cinerascenti-brunneis, plumis elongatis albo longitudinaliter 
