'"i889!"] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUxM. 311 



in P. spilonota and P. jamaicensis cotiirnicidus the back is entirely 

 unspotted. 



The type specimen of the Farallon Rail is probably in autumnal or 

 immature plumage, which in P. jamaicensis differs from that of the fully 

 adult bird in spring in having the chin and throat dull whitish, instead 

 of deep slate-gray, like the breast and belly. The plate of P. spilonota 

 in the " Zoology of the Beagle" represents a bird in full plumage, the 

 chin and throat being concolor with the other lower parts, but doubt- 

 less younger birds of this species also have the chin and throat whitish. 



Except in the color of the chin and throat and the larger dimensions, 

 there is nothing in the original description of P. spilonota that would 

 not exactly fit P. jamaicensis coturniculus ; but Mr. Sal vin's description, 

 taken from examples from a different island (Indefatigable), will not 

 apply in one particular, namely, in the color of the nape, which is said 

 to be entirely blackish cinereous, whereas in P. jamaicensis coturniculus 

 the entire hind-neck is exactly the same deep brown color as in P. 

 jamaicensis. 



As stated above, I have been unable to examine specimens of P. 

 spilonota; but I think there can be no doubt that the Farallon bird 

 is decidedly more closely allied to that of the Galapagos than to the 

 widely-distributed continental species, Californian (mainland) examples 

 of which appear to be exactly like those of the Eastern United States, 

 the West Indies, and Chili.* In view of these facts, the technical 

 name of the Farallon Kail should be changed by the elimination of the 

 middle term, leaving it to stand as Porzana coturniculus (Baird) until 

 its relationship to P. spilonota can be more definitely ascertained. 



Recent explorations have considerably increased the number of 

 species of water birds common to the Galapagos and California (or 

 Lower California), Sula gossi (Galapagos to Lower California) and 

 Pelecanus californicus (Galapagos to Oregon) being among the number, 

 while Hicmatopus galapagensis and R.frazari (of Lower California) are 

 hardly separable. May not, therefore, this puzzling rail, of which it 

 seems to be impossible to obtain a second example, prove to be a 

 straggler of another Galapagoan species? Or, as an alternative possi- 

 bility, might it not have been a straggler from one of the more southern 

 Californian islands, of the Santa Barbara group ? This question brings 

 to mind the case of the Swallow-tailed Gull {Creagnis furcatus), the 

 original specimen of which is said to have been obtained at Monterey, 

 California, while uo example has subsequently been taken north of 

 the Galapagos Islands, the only certainly known breeding-ground of 

 the species. It is known that localities of the specimens obtained by 

 the Venus expedition were more or less mixed in the process of label- 

 ling; still, in view of what we now know of the distribution of water 

 birds along the Pacific coast of America, the correctness of the alleged 

 locality of the original G. furcatus does not seem so very improbable. 



* See Water Birds of North America, Vol. i, p. 378. 



