SHORE BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



85 



FAMILY JACANID/E. 



JACANA SPINOSA (Linn.). 



Mexican Jacana. 



Sp. char. Adult male: Bill and comb, 

 pale orange; bare skin at the base of the 

 lower mandible, pale bluish white; head, 

 neck, and upper breast, dark, lustrous 

 green; back and wing coverts, purple, 

 shading into rich golden brown near the 

 rump; rump and tail coverts, mirple; 

 under parts, dark purple, showing a tinge 

 of dark rufous on the crissum ; most of 

 the primaries and secondaries, yellow, 



edged with brown; tail, rufous brown; carpal spur (a horny spur on bend of \viug), pale 



orange; legs and feet, dull olive. 



Length. 9; wing, 5; tail, 2.25; tarsus, 2.20: bill, 1.30. 



The immature plumage is very different, but the bird in any plumage can 

 hardly be confounded with any other North American species. 



Geographical distribution: "Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas, south to 

 Panama^ Cuba and Hayti." (A. O. U.) 



The Jacana is given a place among our birds from its casual occurrence in 

 the Lower Rio Grande Valley, It is a fresh water species, frequenting the 

 ponds and creeks. 



