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EEVISIOX OF THE CLAPPER RAILS OBERHOLSER 331 



RALLUS LONGIROSTEIS CUBA>;US Chapman 



Cuban Clapper Rail 



Rallus longirosiris cubanus Chapman, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 283, 

 Dec. 29, 1S92 ("Casilda, coast of southern Cuba"). 



SubspecifiC characters. — Similar to Eallus longirostris limnefis, but 

 ■wing longer; bill averaging somewhat shorter; tarsus and middle toe 

 shorter; upper parts much darker and somevdiat more brownish (less 

 grayish) ; lower parts darker, particularly the breast, sides, and flanks, 

 the last two usually with narrower white bars. 



Measurements. — Adult male -*^ : Wing, 142.5-159 (average, 149) mm; 

 tail, 57-67 (61.8); exposed culmen, 58-66 (62.7); tarsus, 52.5-55.5 

 (54.9); middle toe without claw, 45-51.5 (48.2). Adult fem.ale^^: 

 Wing, 128-139.5 (132.6); tail, 49-65 (58.5); exposed culmen, 57-61 

 (59); tarsus, 48-54 (52); middle toe without claw, 43.5-45.5 (44.8). 



Type locality. — Casilda, near Trinidad, on the southern coast of 

 Cuba. 



Geographic distribution. — Permanent resident of the island of Cuba. 



Remarks. — The Cuban clapper rail differs from Rallus longirostris 

 manglecola in shorter bill, in having the ground color of the upper 

 surface somewhat darker, less rufescent (more grayish), the upper 

 wing-coverts less uniform and darker, the cinnamon of breast paler 

 and duller. 



The present race and Rallus longirostris corrius represent two ex- 

 tremes in coloration, and the former is so very much darker, more 

 brownish above, and so much darker below, particularly on the sides 

 and flanks, and has such narrow white bars on the flanks that it is 

 separable at a glance. There are three well-marked color phases in 

 this subspecies, a light gray, a dark gray, and, though the middle of 

 the jugulum is more or less grayish in practically all the specimens, also 

 a graj-breasted phase, in which the cinnamon on the breast disappears 

 and ife replaced entirely by grayish, while all the rest of the under 

 parts is more or less clearly grayish. Very pale specimens of the light- 

 gray phase sometimes resemble specimens of other races. 



The following specimens have been examined: 



Cuba: Mariel (May 10, 1900); Boqueron (August 19, 1930); Man- 

 zanUlo, Oriente (September 2 and 3, 1930); Casilda, near Trinidad 

 (April 14, 1892) -«; Preston (March 6 and 15, 1915, February 23 and 27, 

 1915); w^harf on Los Canos Estate, ]Manati, Guantanamo (February 

 29, 1912); Guantanamo (July 3, 1908, August 10, 1909, April 4, 1910, 

 October 3, 1910). 



»' Eight specimens, from Cuba. 

 " Four specimens, from Cuba. 

 »« Type. 



