2C)2 Eli.IOT on the Jarauuhv.. [July 



day.* Biissoii iirst instituted a genus '•Jacana' for tlie Jacanas 

 and gave very good descriptions of those he considered especially 

 distinct. Six years after, Linna;us, in his 12th edition, utterly 

 ignored Brisson's genus, as in fact he did his own previous writ- 

 ings, and bestowed the generic term Parra upon these birds, 

 and this is the name that has, quite erroneously, been employed 

 ever since. It must, however, give way to that of Brisson. 

 The Jacanida' are properly divided into live genera, character- 

 ised chiefly by the presence or absence of wattles, their shape, 

 and tlie bare or feathered head. 



List of Genera. 



1760. jfacana Brisson, Ornith. V^ol. V, p. 121. Type, I^zi- 

 lica sp inosa Linn. 



1766. Parra LiNN^iUS, Syst. Nat. Vol. I, p. 259 {passim). 

 Type, Parra jacana Linn. 



1S32. Hydrop/iasiatir/s VVa(;i.ek, Isis, p. 279. Type, 7rifi- 

 ga chirurgus Scop. 



1832. Aletopidius VVagler, Isis, p. 279. Type, Parra af- 

 ricana Gmel. 



1832. Hydralcctor Waglek, Isis, p. 279. Type, Parra 

 gallinaceus Temm. 



1842. Diplopteryx Gloger, Handb. u. Hilfschb. Naturg. 

 Type, Tringa. chirurgus Scop. 



1888. Aphalus Elliot, gen. nov. Type, Parra capensis 

 Smith. 



Key to the Geuera and Species. 



A. Tail short; primaries normal. 



a. Head with an upright fleshy wattle on forehead Jacana. 



a' . Narrow pendent wattles at base of mandible. 



Frontal wattle bi-lobed. 



a" . Back and wings chestnut y. jacana. 



i>". Back and wings black, glossed with purple y. nigra. 



b' . Without pendent wattles. 



a". Frontal wattle tri-lobed. Back and wings 



purplish cliestnut J. spinosa. 



b". Frontal wattle rounded. Back and wings 



pale greenish bronze jf. indica. 



b. No wattles. 



a' . Forehead bare Metopidius. 



* Stejneger; Auk, II, 1885, p. 338. 



