5. JACAWA. 85 



Parra ni"ra, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 708 (1788) ; Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. 



p. 762°(1790) ; Vieill. N. Bid. d'Hist. Nat. xvi. p. 450 (1817) ; 



Gray, List Grallce Brit. Mus. p. 112 (1844) ; Schl. Mus. Pays- Bus, 



Ralli, p. 66 (1865). 

 Parra hypomelrena, Gray, Gen. B. iii. p. 589, pi. clix. (1846) ; Scl. 



P Z S 1856, p. 283 (Bogota, Carthagena, Chiriqui) ; Salvin, 



P. Z. 8. 1870, p. 218 (Calobre) ; Wyatt, Ibis, 1871, pp. 116, 383 ; 



Scl. 8c Salvin, Nomencl. Av. Neotrop. p. 142 (1873); iid. P. Z. S. 



1879, p. 546 (Antioquia) ; Berlepsch, J. f. O. 1884, p. 320 (Lake 



Paturia, Buearramanga) ; id. J.f. O. 1889, p. 320 (Ucayali E.). 

 Jacana nigra, Elliot, Auk, v. p. 296 (1888). 



Adult male. General colour above greenish black, with more or 

 less of a chocolate-brown tinge on the wings, scapulars, and inner 

 secondaries ; bastard- wing and primary-coverts black, quills sulphur- 

 yellow fringed with blackish at the ends, the outer primaries also 

 edged with blackish ; the innermost secondaries like the back ; 

 head all round and entire under surface of body black with a 

 greenish gloss, including the under wing-coverts and axillaries. 

 Total length 7'5 inches, culmen and frontal shield 1-65, wing 5, 

 tail 1-7, tarsus 1*2, middle toe and claw 2-9. 



Adult female. Similar to the male but larger. Total length 

 10 inches, culmen and frontal shield 1-8, wing 5-3, tail 1-9, tarsus 

 2'25, middle toe and claw 3. 



The typical specimens of this species from Bogota show little or 

 no trace of either purplish brown or chestnut- colour on the back 

 and wings. This, however, is somewhat visible in an example from 

 Antioquia, but is much more evident in the specimens from Veragua, 

 which are strongly tinged with purplish or reddish brown on the 

 upper surface. 



Hob. From Panama to Colombia and Venezuela. 



a. Ad. ; b. Juv. Lion Hill, Panama (J. McLean- Salvin-Godman Coll. 



sk. nan). 



c. Juv. sk. Panama. Tweeddale Coll. 



d, e,f. Ad. ; g. Calobre, Veragua (JB. Arci). Salvin-Godman Coll. 

 (5 juv. sk. 



h. $ ad. sk. Antioquia, U.S. Colombia (T.K. Salvin-Godman Coll. 



Salmon). 

 i. $ ad. sk. Bogota (Crowther). Salvin-Godman Coll. 



k, I. Ad. ; m. Bogota. Purchased. 



Juv. sk. 



black, but no mention is made of the colour of the wings, or of the spur. If 

 a Jacana at all, it is probably the Brazilian species, but the name is too doubtful 

 to be quoted as a synonym," and had better be dropped altogether. Equally 

 uncertain is the name of Parra viridis of Gmelin, which may perhaps belong 

 really to Iononus martinica. The following is the sj-nonymy which pertains 

 ■to it: — 



Le Jacana, Briss. Orn. v. p. 121 (1760). 

 Jacana vert, Buff. Hist. Nat. viii. p. 18» (1781). 

 Green Jacana, Lath. Gen. Si/n. iii. pt. 1, p. 243 (1785). 

 Parra viridis, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 708 (1788). 



