244 



Family III. MESITIDiE. 



Palate schizognathous. 



Nasals schizorhinal. 



Eectrices 16, primaries 10. 



On-gland nude ? 



Sternum with a deep notch on each side of the posterior margin. 



Five pairs of powder-down patches present — two dorsal, two 

 ventral, and one lateral. 



BUI shorter than the head, with the " nostrils long, linear, con- 

 cave upturned slits, extending for more than half the length of the 

 beak, and covered above by a well-marked membranous valvular 

 operculum, being in this respect very unlike the ordinary form of 

 nostril in the Rallidfe" (W. A. Forbes, P.Z.S. 1882, p. 268). 



Tarsus much longer than middle toe and claw. Hind toe not 

 raised above the level of the other toes. 



Inner secondaries slightly exceeding the primaries in length ; the 

 wing rounded. 



Nest on the ground (Grandiclier). 



Egg and nestling not yet described. 



[Of. Milne-Edwards and Grandidier, Hist. Nat. Madag., Ois. 

 pp. 603-611 ; Forbes, P. Z. S. 1882, pp. 267-271.] 



1. MESITES. ^y^^ 



Mesites, Geofr. St.-Hilaire, Rev. Zool. 1838, p. 50 M- variegata. 



Mesitornis, Bp. (ubi? teste Gray). 



Mescenas, Meichenb. Handb., Columb. p. (1850) M. variegata. 



Range. Confined to Madagascar. 



1. Mesites variegata. 



Mesites variegata, Geofr. St.-Hilaii-e, C. R. vi. p. 443 (1838); id. 

 Ann. Set. Nat. ix. p. 189 (1838) ; id. Rev. Zool. 1838, p. 50; id. 

 Mag. de Zool. 1839, p. 10, pis. v., vi. ; Des Murs, Icon. Orn. pi. xi. 

 (1845); Graij, Gen. B. iii. p. 492, pi. 124. fig. 3 (1847); Kartl. 

 Ann. 8f Mag. N. H. (2) ii. p. 391 (1848) ; Reichenb. Syst. Nat. 

 tab. XXV. fig. 1 (1850) : Bp. C. R. xlii. p. 876 (1856) ; Des Murs, 

 in C/ienu'sEnc.d'Hist. Nat., Ois. vi. p. 81, figs. 79,80 (1800); 

 Hartl. J. /. 0. 1860, p. 162; id. Faun. Madagasc. p. 67 (1861) ; 

 Pollen, Nederl. Tijdschr. Dierk. i. p. 317 (1863) ; Grandid. Rev. et 

 Maq. Zool. 1867, p. 360; Gray, Rand-l. J5. i. p. 267, no. 3915 

 (1869) ; Sundev. Forsok till Fog. Nat. Upsala, 1872, p. 157 ; 

 Hartl. Voq. Madag. p. 125 (1877) ; E. Bartldt, P. Z. S. 1877, 

 p. 292, 1879, p. 772; Forbes, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 644; Milne- 

 Edioards Sf Grandid. R. N. Madag., Ois. ii. p. 601, pis. 246-251 

 (1885). 

 Mesites unicolor, Des Murs, Rev. Zool. 1845, p. 176; id. Iconogr. 

 Orn. pi. xii. (1845) ; Gray, Gen. B. iii. p. 492 (1847) ; Hartl. Ann. 



