8 BULLETIN 50, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



tion of tibia about half as long as tarsus, also transversely scutellate, 

 or ocreate (''booted") both anteriorly and. posteriorly; middle toe, 

 without claw, about as long as tarsus or a little shorter, the outer toe 

 about the same length, the inner toe a little shorter; hallux about as 

 long as basal phalanx of middle toe, its claw much longer than the digit, 

 (sometimes three times as long) slender, compressed, acute, straight 

 or sometimes slightly recurved terminally; claws of anterior toes 

 similar in form to that of hallux but much shorter (about as long as 

 basal phalanx of middle toe) ; interdigital spaces completely cleft. 



Coloration. — Adults with head, neck, and chest uniform black 

 (sometimes whole plumage, except primaries and secondaries black), 

 the remiges (except tertials) yellowish green or greenish yellow, 

 margined terminally with blackish, other portions chestnut-rufous, 

 chestnut, or maroon. Young whitish or buffy beneath, grayish 

 brown above, the remiges much as in adults. 



Range. — ^American tropics, except Lesser Antilles and Galapagos 

 Ai'chipelago. (Three species.) 



KEY TO THE SPECIES AND SUBSPECIES OF JACANA. 



a. Frontal shield with posterior margin bifid; a well-developed rictal lobe or wattle. 

 {Jacana.) 

 b. Back, scapulars, wing-coverts, etc., bright hazel to chestnut; sides and flanks 

 dark chestnut. ( Jacana jacana.) 

 c. Color of back, etc., lighter chestnut; size averaging larger. (Brazil, Guianas, 



etc.) Jacana jacana jacana (extralimital).o 



cc. Color of back, etc., darker chestnut; size averaging smaller. (Venezuela.) 



Jacana jacana intermedia (extralimital).^ 

 bb. Back, scapulars, wing-coverts, etc., maroon to greenish black; sides and flanks 



black. (Colombia and Panama.) Jacana nigra (p. 15). 



aa. Frontal shield with posterior margin trifid; rictal lobe or wattle rudimentarj' or 

 obsolete. (Asarcia.) (Jacana spinosa.) 

 b. Back, etc., more rufescent chestnut, 

 c. Frontal shield smaller; color of under parts darker and duller. (Mexico.) 



Jacana spinosa gymnostoma (p. 12). 

 cc. Frontal shield larger; color of under parts brighter. (Guatemala to western 



Panama.) Jacana spinosa spinosa adults (p. 9). 



66. Back, etc., more purplish chestnut or maroon. (Greater Antilles.) 



Jacana spinosa violacea adults (p. 13). 



o [Parra] jacana Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 12, 1766, 259 (Brazil; based on Spur-winged 

 Water-hen of Brazil Edwards, Gleanings, iii, 1764, 305, pi. 357); Gmelin, Syst. Nat., 

 i, pt. ii, 1789, 707; Latham, Index, Orn., ii, 1790, 762. — Parra jacana Temmuick, 

 Cat. Syst., 1807, 177; Maximilian, Beitr. Naturg. Bras., iv, 1833, 786; Burmeister, 

 Syst. Ueb. Th. Bras., iii, 1856, 39-1; Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1856, 282 (monogr.); 

 Hudson Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1876, 103 (Argentina; habits); Sclater and Hudson, 

 Argentine Orn., ii, 1889, 163. — Jacana jacana Elliot, Auk, v, July, 1888, 294, part 

 (monogr.); Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxiv, 1896, 82, part (excl. s,vn. Parra inter- 

 media Sclater). — Jacana jacana jacana llellmayr, Novit. Zool., xiii, 1906, 53. — Parra 

 jassana Lichtenstein, ^'erz. Saiig. und Vogel Mus. Berlin, 1818, 35. — P[arra] jassana 

 Cabanis, in Schomburgk's Reis. Brit. Guiana, iii, 1848, 759. 



& Parra intermedia Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1856, 282 (Venezuela; ex Verreaux, 

 manuscript); 



