344 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 84 



feathers almost wholly white; thighs anteriorly bufFy white, posteriorly 

 dull hair brown; lining of wing between chaetura drab and fuscous, 

 narrowly barred with dull white. 



Measurements. — Nearly adult": Wing, 129 mm (in molt); tail, 

 56.5; exposed culmen, 59; tarsus, 50.5; middle toe without claw, 49. 



Type locality. — San Bias, Na3^arit, Mexico. 



Geographic distribution. — Permanent resident on the coast of Nayarit 

 (Tepic), north to central Sinaloa (Mazatlan). 



Remarks. — Notwithstanding the fact that the description and 

 characters of this race depend upon the single specimen, which is not 

 quite adult, apparently in the fresh first autum.n plumage, it never- 

 theless seems to be subspecifically separable from all the known forms 

 of the species. It is very different from Rallus longirostris yumanensis, 

 having the wing and tail shorter; the bill somewhat longer; upper 

 parts very much darker and more grayish, the centers of the feathers 

 more extensively blackish, their edgings more purely grayish; the 

 white bars on flanks and crissum narrower; the remainder of the 

 lower posterior parts more whitish medially, the cinnamon on the 

 lower parts not so extensive, though this difi'erence may be due in 

 part to slight immaturity. 



It is similar to Rallus longirostris obsoletus, but the wing, tail, and 

 tarsus are shorter; the upper parts darker, more grayish (less brownish 

 or olivaceous), the centers of the feathers more blackish; the anterior 

 lower parts less extensively cinnamon and much brighter; the middle 

 of the abdomen more nearly white; and the white bars on the flanks 

 narrower. 



RALLUS LONGIROSTRIS SATURATUS Ridgway 



Louisiana Clapper Rail 



[Rallus longirostris] d. var. saturaius Ridgway (Henshaw MS.), Bull. Nuttall 

 Orn. Club, vol. 5, no. 3, p. 140, July 1880 ("Louisiana"). 



Subspecific characters. — Similar to Rallus longirostris nayaritensist 

 but wing and tail longer; upper parts rather lighter, the edgings less 

 purely grayish, the central portions of the feathers narrower; cinnamon 

 of breast rather darker and duller; posterior lower parts less whitish on 

 median portion; flanks and crissum with much broader white bars. 



Description of soft parts. — Iris orange; inside of mouth yellow; 

 culmen dull brown; gonys flesh color; sides of bill reddish yellow; 

 legs pale plumbeous. 



Measurements.— M\i\t male": Wing, 140.5-163 (average, 150.4) 

 mm; tail, 58-68 (63.6); exposed culmen, 54-69 (61.7); tarsus, 47-55 

 (50.9); middle toe without claw, 43-52.5 (47.6). Adult female" 



" One specimen (the type), from San Bias, Nayarit, Mexico. 



M Twenty-three specimens, from Texas and Louisiana. 



'« Sixteen specimens, from Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. 



56. 



