BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA. 5 



Superfmnily J-'^.CA.NI. 



=Furrae Fukbringer, Unters. Morph. Syst. Vog., ii, 1888, 1566. — Sharps, Re- 

 view Recent Att. Classif . Birds, 1891, 73; Hand-list, i, 1899, xvi, 168. 



Medium-sized to rather small Limicolse without occipital fora- 

 mina or supraorbital grooves, coracoids overlapping, toes (mcluding 

 hallux) and their claws enormously elongated, and rectrices only 10. 



Palate schizognathous ; nares schizorhinal, without ossified in- 

 ternasal septum or ossification of nasal cartilages; basipterygoid 

 processes present, well-developed; supraorbital grooves and occipital 

 foramina absent; lachrymals small, ankylosed with the naso-frontal 

 bones above, with the pars plena below; vomer emarginate apically; 

 metasternum 2-notched ; xiphoid sternal processes shorter than body 

 of sternum; ribs reachmg sternum, 5; clavicles farther from pro- 

 coracoid at its articulation than in Charadrii ; a more or less developed 

 metacarpal spur, this when less developed accompanied by a dilation 

 and flattening of the distal half of the radius, but when conspicously 

 developed the radius of normal form; s}Tinx with a pair of intrmsic 

 muscles; thigh-muscle formula ABXY-f, the ambiens, accessory 

 femoro-caudal, and acccsssory semitondinosus muscles developed, 

 the oddurator internus triangular; deep plantar tendons peculiar, 

 there being no special slip from conjoined tendon of the long flexors 

 to the hallux; carotid arteries, 2; caeca rudimentary ("mere passeri- 

 form nipples"); gall bladder present, well-developed; crop absent; 

 gizzard muscular, with epithelial finhig hard and thick; oil gland 

 tufted; dorsal pteryla remarkably contracted (laterally) behind 

 scapula, the pelvic portion dilated, the lumbar tracts weak and 

 united to uropygial portion by sparse contour feathers; rectrices, 10. 



Family JACANID^. 



THE JACANAS. 



= [GraUalores\ Macronyches Vieillot, Analyse, 1816, 61. 



=Parndx Carus, Handb. Zool., i, 1868, 338.— Gray, Hand-list, iii, 1871, 69.— 

 ScLATER and Salvin, Nom. Av. Neotr., 1873, viii, 142. — Baird, Brewer, 

 and RiDGWAY, Water Birds N. Am., i, 1884, 108, 175.— CoxTes, Key N. Am. 

 Bii-ds, 2d ed., 1884, 669.— Furbringer, Unters. Morph. Syst. Vog., ii, 1888, 

 1226, 1566.— Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Miis., xxiv, 1896, ix, 68; Hand-list, i, 

 1899, xvi, 168.— Gadow, Classif. Vertebr., 1898, 35.— Beddard, Struct, and 

 Classif. Birds, 1898, 346. — Salvin and Godman, Biol. Centr.-Am., Aves, iii, 

 1903, 340. 



=Parrin!je Gray, List Gen. Birds, 1840, 70; List Gen. Birds, 2d ed., 1841, 91; 

 Gen. Birds, iii, 1849, 588; Gen. and Subgen. Birds, 1855, 119 (subfamily of 

 Palamedeidse!). — Lilljeborg, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1806, 17 (subfamily of 

 Rallid*!). 



= Jacanidse Stejneger, Standard Nat. Hist., iv, 1885, 103, in text. — American 

 Orxithologists' Union, Check List, 1886, 166; 2d ed., 1895, 105; 3d ed., 

 1910, 133.— Ridgway, Orn. Illinois, ii, 1895, 18.— Oberholser, Outl. Classif. 

 N. Am. Birds, 1905, 2.— Knowlton, Birds of the World, 1909, 49, 382. 



