132 BULLETIN 15 5, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



and specimens of comparable museum antiquity of other races of 

 longirostris, with the result that the darker, duller, browner ap- 

 pearance of the series of caribaeus justifies the separation here pro- 

 posed. In the three caribaeus examined two males have the wing 

 144.0 and 147.6 mm., the culmen 61.8 and 58.5 mm., and the tarsus 

 (in both) 54.2 mm. while a female has the wing 139.8, culmen, 54.7, 

 and tarsus 50.2 mm. There is indicated a slightly longer wing, and 

 shorter culmen and tarsus than in vafer, a difference so slight, how- 

 ever, that it needs to be verified in a larger series before it is 

 accepted." 



The series of vafer that we have seen includes two females from 

 Caracol, and two males and four females from Etroites and Picmy 

 on Gonave Island. The latter do not differ from the mainland 

 birds. One of the specimens from Caracol is in partly melanistic 

 phase as the cinnamon color normal to the breast is almost entirely 

 obscured by dark gray. 



Measurements are as follows (given in millimeters) : 



Males (4 specimens) wing 151.0-159.5 (155.0), tail 61.5-66.4 

 (63.3), culmen, 63.8-68.5 (65.5), tarsus, 57.0-61.0 (59.0). 



Females, (7 specimens) wing, 134.5-144.5 (138.4), tail 54.4-60.0 

 (56.9), culmen, 53.6-63.0 (58.7), tarsus, 46.4-59.5 (52.8). 



Type, male, wing 151.8, tail 62.2, culmen 63.8, tarsus 59.0. 



Peters writes that the male he secured at Monte Cristi had the 

 wing 149 mm., tail 65 mm., exposed culmen 61 mm., and tarsus 

 50 mm. 



The adult clapper rail is about 340 mm. in length, with long neck 

 and bill, strong legs, large feet, and short tail. The upper surface 

 is deep brown, the feathers margined with grayish olive, the throat 

 is white, the breast buffy brown, and the sides dusky, barred with 

 white. The downy young are coal black. 



PORZANA CAROLINA (Linnaeus) 

 SORA, GALLINUEIA 



Rallus carolinus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 153 (Hudson 

 Bay). 



Rallus olivaceus Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat., vol. 28, 1819, p. 561 ("Saint- 

 Domingiie"). 



Porzana Carolina, Bond, Proc. Acad. Nat Sci. 'Philadelphia, vol. 80, 1928, 

 p. 495 (Etang Miragoane). 



Winter visitor; abundance not certainly known. 



Dr. W. L. Abbott secured two males at Laguna Bincon near 

 Cabral, Dominican Republic, March 18, 1922, and a third at the 

 same point on the following day. The birds were common. He 

 collected a female at Trou Caiman, Haiti, March 11, 1918, and 



