6. ASARCIA. 87 



Parra violacea, Cory, Bull. Nutt. Om. Club, vi. p. 130 (1881). 

 Jacana gymnostoiua, Bidyw. Man. N. Amer. B. p. 183(1887: Lower 



Uii) Grande). 

 Jacana spinosa (?iec L.), Elliot, Auk, v. p. 297 (1888) ; Cory, B. 



W. Tnd. p. 262 (1889); id. Cat. B. West Indies, p. 92 (1892); 



Bichm. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mm. xvi. p. 530 (1893 : Nicaragua). 

 Jacaua violacea, Cory, Auk, v. p. 51 (1888). 



Adult )H<ile. Dark maroon-chestnut on the back and wings ; 

 the throat and chest greenish black ; remainder of the under surface 

 dingy maroon, sooty blackish in the centre of the breast, abdomen, 

 and thighs ; under wing-coverts deep maroon-chestnut, those 

 round the edge of the wing blackish : " bill, alar spurs, and 

 frontal leaf bright yellow; upper base of bill bluish white, the 

 space between it and the nasal leaf bright carmine ; feet greyish ; 

 iris dark brown " (Sumichrast MS., teste Lawrence). Total length 

 7 - 5 inches, culmen and frontal shield 1*8, wing 4 - 8, tail 1'5, tarsus 

 .2*1, middle toe and claw 2-8. 



Adult female. Similar to the male but larger. The inner second- 

 aries are like the back, but those adjoining the yellow primaries 

 are purplish brown, and most of the rufous secondaries have purplish- 

 brown bases ; the greater coverts also are purplish brown edged with 

 rufous, or rufous with brown bases. Total length 8 - 5 inches, culmen 

 with frontal shield 1*9, wing 5"1, tail 1*7, tarsus 2 - 8, middle toe 

 and claw 2-7. 



Mr. Cory says that the bare skin at the base of the lower mandible 

 is pale bluish white. As, however, the plate represents this white 

 skin at the base of the upper mandible, Mr. Cory probably intended 

 to refer to the latter. The colour of the feet, moreover, differs 

 from that observed by Mr. Sumichrast, as Mr. Cory writes " legs 

 and feet dull olive." The 8. Domingo bird may yet be found to 

 belong to a distinct species. 



Nestling. Covered with down of a remarkable pattern. The 

 crown orange tawny ; the nape and hind neck dusky black ; the 

 mantle and back orange-tawny, the latter a little the darker, and 

 having a line of black on each side of the central tract, this being 

 followed by a broad band of ochreous buff down the sides of the 

 back, this being again enclosed by a broad black band, which joins 

 at the tail ; wings orange-tawny, the manus white ; a narrow 

 frontal line, sides of face, and under surface, covered with white 

 down ; a black line extending from behind the eye and joining the 

 black of the hind-neck ; the downy wing with black edgings, and a 

 zig-zag line of black on the flanks, and the upper part of the thighs 

 also black. 



Hab. From Southern Texas throughout Central America to Costa 

 Rica. Cuba ; Porto Rico ; 8. Domingo. 



a-d. cJ ad; e,f, Brownsville, Texas, March to Salvin-Godman Coll. 



g. Juv. sk. July (F. B. Armstrong), 



h. Ad. sk. Mexico. Purchased. 



t. Pull. sk. Mexico. J. Gould, Esq. 



/.-,/. Ad. otimm. Mazatlan. Capt.Ki'llott& Lieut. 



sk. Wood [P.]. 



