BIRDS OF SOUTHERN VERACRUZ — WETMORE 247 



Family RALLIDAE 



ARAMIDES CAJANEA MEXICANA Bangs 



Aramides alhiventris mexicanus Bangs, Amer. Nat., vol. 41, Mar. 1907, p. 185 

 (Buena Vista, Veracruz, Mexico). 



At Tres Zapotes everyone knew the Montezuma, or polio de Monte- 

 zuma, sometimes varied to Moctezuma, which for weeks I supposed 

 to be this rail, a matter difficult to prove, however, because the birds 

 were very shy. One day Ramon led me to a nest that he had found 

 at the Laguna del Tular, a platform of sticks and weed stems 15 

 inches across, placed 5 feet from the ground in a bush standing in 

 heavy forest just above the flooded edge of the swamp at the border of 

 the lagoon. We watched for the birds but did not see them. On 

 March 29, 1939, at Laguna Larga, I worked slowly along the edge 

 of a wooded swamp where trees 30 to 40 feet high stood on enormous, 

 flaring, buttressed roots that radiated from the trunk in all direc- 

 tions and rose to a height of 6 to 8 feet. Dark water lay beneath 

 the trees, leading to an open area grown thickly with plants. The 

 light was subdued and the air quiet in spite of a wind blowing 

 strongly overhead. Tracks of rails were impressed in the mud, and 

 twice I had indistinct glimpses of birds slipping away without 

 sound. Each time, by a quick shot, I secured a fine male of this 

 species, and the mysterious Montezuma was identified. Afterward, 

 on April 1, 1 saw one along the Arroyo Valdez, where there was little 

 water, and occasionally heard one call, but I had no further oppor- 

 tunity to get specimens. This species is sometimes called poposcala, 

 in imitation of its call. 



PORZANA CAROLINA (Linnaeus) 



Rallus carolinus Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 153 (Hudson 

 Bay). 



Carriker secured a male at the edge of a, pond near Tlacotalpam 

 February 29, 1940. He notes that he had shot several other birds 

 nearby, and apparently the rail had come out through curiosity to 

 learn the cause of the noise. 



LATERALLUS RUBER TAMAULIPENSIS (Nelson) 



Creciscus ruber tamaulipensis Nelson, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 39, 

 Aug. 25, 1926, p. 105 (near the Tarnesi River, Alta Mira, Tainaulipas, 

 Mexico). 



On March 16, 1940, at Tres Zapotes, a native brought a ruddy rail 

 alive to Carriker, stating that he had caught it in high grass on a 

 dry, open ridge in a pasture, far from any water. The bird was un- 

 known to all those who saw it. 



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