290 Elliot on the Jacanida:. 1 J"ly 



has :i feathered head, and a broad, upright, frontal wattle) ; and 

 Hydralector^ for P. galliiiaceus Temm. 



1S44-1S49. G. R. Gray, Genera of Birds. In this work 

 we have the Jacanas placed in the subfamily Parrina; of the 

 family Palamedeidas, order Gralla^. Fourteen species are enu- 

 merated under Parra., of which four are marked doubtful, and 

 one is given for the first time, P. kypo?nelcena {=. P. m'o-raGmel.). 

 One of the species is marked with a ? — The species given besides 

 these are P. jacana Linn., P. viridis and P. brasilicnsis Gmel. 

 {^ P. nigra Gmel.), P. gymnostoina Wagl. and P. cordifera 

 Less, (both ■=.P. spinosa Linn.), P. africana G\nc\.., P. capensis 

 Smith, P. albinucha St. Hil., P. indica Lath., P. cristata 

 Vieill.) z:^P. indica Lath.), P. gallinacea Teram., and P. chi- 

 lensis Molina, which belongs to the genus Vatiellus auct. 



1849. Sir a. Smith, Illnstrations of the Zoology of South 

 Africa. Avcs. P. capensis first described. . . .Species 9. 



1856. P. L. ScLATER, in Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society of London. A review of the American species of this 

 family is here given. Five are enumerated — P. Jacana Linn., 

 P. intermedia Bonap. (1= P. jacana Linn.), P. viclanopygia 

 Sclat. and P. hypomclicna Gray (both = P. nigra Gmel.), and 

 P. gymnostojna Wagl. (= F. spinosa Linn.). 



1878. Ramsay, Transactions Litinean Society of New 

 South Wales. Hydralector gallinaceus., described as Parra 

 tiovceguinecc. 



1881. C. B. Cory, in Bjilletin Nuttall Ornithological Club, 

 y. spinosa from Haiti described as P. violacea. 



Classification. 



Formerly the Jacanida^ were usually associated with the Ralli- 

 die, but through the researches of competent comparative avian 

 anatomists, notably the late Messrs. Garrod and Forbes, it has 

 been pretty conclusively shown that the Jacanas are much more 

 nearly related to the Plovers. Nitzsch in his 'Pterylography,' as- 

 sociates the facance with the genera Rallus., Cre.v, and Porphy- 

 rio^ although they difter from all of these in having ten rectrices 

 instead of twelve ; while the bands of the dorsal tract behind the 

 shoulder blades are narrowed remarkably, and the pelvic por- 

 tion is dilated. The lumbar tracts are weak and united by 

 sparse contour feathers to the uropygial portion of the dorsal 



