38 BULLETIN 50, UNITED STATES NATIONAL JMUSEUM 



Suborder Ralli: Raillike Birds, Coots, and Gallinules 



=Paludicolae Baied, Rep. Pacific R. R. Surv., ix, 1858, 688, 745. 



>Fulicari8e Sclater and Salvin, Norn. Av. Neotr., 1873, viii, 139 (Ralli+Heli- 



ornithes+Aramidae).— Shahpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxiii, 1894, ix, 1 



( Ralli +Heliornithes). — Salvin and Godman, Biol. Ceutr.-Amer., Aves, lii, 



1903, 314 (Ralli+Heliornithes). 

 >Fulicariae Fijebringeb, Unters. Morph. Syst. Vog., 188'8, 1235, 1566 



( Ralli + Heliornithes ) . 

 > Ralli American Ornithologists' Union, Check-list, 1886, 139 (Ralli-f Ara- 



midae).— Beddard, Struct, and Classif. Birds, 1898, 321 (Ralli+Heliornithes). 

 =Ralli Sharpe, Rev. Rec. Att. Classif. Birds, 1891, 70. 

 >Ralliformes Fuebkinger, Unters. Morph. Syst. Vog., 1888, 1566 (Ralli+Heli- 



ornithes+Hemipodii).— Shakpe, Hand-list, i, 1899, xii, 93 (Ralli+Heli- 

 ornithes). 

 =Ralliformes Shakpe, Rev. Rec. Att. Classif. Birds, 1891, 70. 

 =Rallidae Gadow, in Bronn's Thier Reich, Vog., ii, 1891, 182; Classif. Vertebr., 



1898, 34 (includes fossil Aptornis, Diaphorapteryx, and Gypsoriiis). 

 >Rallidae Cakus, Haudb. Zool., i, 1868-75, 339 (includes Heliornithidae and 



Aramidae). 

 =RalIoidea Shufeldt, Auat. Rec. ix, 1915, 750. 



>Megalornithiformes Wetmoke and Muler (W. DeW.), Auk, xliii, 1926, 342. 

 >Grues Wetmore, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Ixxvi, 1930, art. 24, 4; Smiths. 



Misc. Coll., Ixxxis, No. 13, 1934, 6 (includes Gruidae). 



Very small to large holorhinal Gruiformes with basipterygoid 

 processes, supraorbital foramina, and powder downs absent; cervical 

 vertebrae 14 or 15; thigh muscle formula ABXY+ ; caeca long; 

 oil gland tufted (usually)-"; hallux well-developed, nearly incum- 

 bent, and rectrices 10-14, the tail small, soft, not fan-shaped. 



Palate schizognathous ; nares holorhinal; basipterygoid processes, 

 occipital foramina, and supraorbital grooves absent; interorbital 

 septum incomplete (fenestrate) ; lachrymal not joined to ectethmoid, 

 the latter with an upturned process joining frontal bone, leaving a 

 foramen for passage of nerves ; cervical vertebrae 14 or 15 ; no fused 

 dorsal vertebrae; atlas without lateral canals, notched for the 

 odontoid process; sternum with a very long lateral process, the 

 spina externa sterni present, the metasternum 2-notched, clavicles in 

 near relation with both precoracoids and scapula, separated from 

 carina sterni; preacetabulum longer than postacetabulum ; ilia ver- 

 tical in their plane anteriorly; pubes strong, not ankylosed with 

 ischia ; carotids 2 ; caeca long ; ^° crop absent ; stomach a gizzard, the 

 proventriculars zonary; gall bladder present; liver with right lobe 

 longer than left; syrinx tracheobronchial, but intrinsic muscles 

 attached rather far down; thigh muscle formula ABXY-f ; deep 

 flexor tendons usually of type I; tensor patagii brevis without 



^ Said to be nude in Porzana Carolina. 



*" These characters shared by Heliornithes. 



