FAMILY RALLIDAE 359 



Females (8 from eastern United States and Mexico), wing 158- 

 174 (166.5), tail 63-71 (66.9), tarsus 48-50 (49.2) mm. 



Resident. Found locally in western Bocas del Toro on fresh water 

 ponds and lowland streams where there are borders of marsh growth. 

 One record, possibly of a migrant, for western Chiriqui, on the smaller 

 of the two lakes near El Volcan. 



Kennard secured a female near Almirante on February 14, 1926 

 (Kennard and Peters, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 38, 1928, 

 p. 447), and at about the same time Griscom (Amer. Mus. Nov. no. 

 293, 1928, p. 1) recorded one taken by Benson (under the name 

 Gallinula chloropus centralis), a specimen that I find was collected 

 near Almirante, August 24, 1927. H. von Wedel forwarded several 

 others from near Changuinola taken October 28, 1926, November 17 

 and December 2, 1927, and July 14, 1928, which were obviously 

 resident birds, a series that Peters (Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 71, 

 1931, p. 301) found to be identical with birds of eastern North 

 America so that he declared the supposed race centralis described 

 from Nicaragua one without validity. There is also a specimen in 

 the Havemeyer Collection at Yale, taken at Farm 3 near Almirante 

 by Austin Paul Smith in April 1927. In 1958 near Changuinola I 

 recorded 4 on January 30 and a mated pair on March 4. Eisenmann 

 (Condor, 1957, p. 250) found juvenile birds here on June 30, 1957. 



One that I saw on !March 6, 1954, on the smaller of the lakes near 

 El Volcan in western Chiriqui may have been a migrant bird from 

 the north. 



The race of the West Indies, G. c. cerceris, is similar in size to 

 cachinnans but has the brown of the dorsal surface grayer and 

 restricted in extent on the v^^ing coverts. Those resident on Cuba and 

 Jamaica are intermediate but slightly nearer cerceris. 



GALLINULA CHLOROPUS PAUXILLA Bangs 



Gallinula chloroptts pauxilla Bangs, Proc. New England Zool. Club, vol. 5, May 

 17, 1915, p. 96. (Guabinas, Valle, Colombia.) 



Characters. — Differs from Gallinula chloropus cachinnans in 

 slightly smaller size and in more grayish brown on the dorsal sur- 

 face, with this color restricted mainly to the back, only a light wash, 

 or none at all, being found on the wing coverts. The distinctions are 

 slight, but the two groups indicated are apparent when a series 

 of specimens is examined. 



Measurements. — Males (8 from Panama, Colombia, and Vene- 

 zuela), wing 162-173 (168), tail 64.3-70.0 (68.0), tarsus 50.2-58.8 

 (55.0) mm. 



