1868.] ON THE AMERICAN RALLID^. 443 



muuication, may be very naturally divided into three subfamilies, as 

 follows : — 



a. digiti omniuo sejuncti : tarsus elougatiis : caudte rcc- 



trioes jjarvse breves, laxoe, X aut XII. 



a', frons pluniosus; pedes gressorii: tarsus plus 



minusve rotundatus : digiti non-membranati I. Rallin^e. 



h'. frons seutatus : pedes natatorii : tarsus plus 

 minusve compressus: digiti plerumque aut 

 membranati aut lobati II. Fulicin.e. 



b. digiti ad basin juncti : tarsus brevis : caudae rectrices 



magnse elongatffl, rigidae, XVIII III. IIeliornitiiin.e. 



These three subfamilies, as far as we have become acquainted with 

 them, contain 48 American species, belonging to 10 genera, namely: — 



Rallince 5 genera : 35 species. 



Fulicince 4 genera : 12 species. 



HeliornithincB 1 genus : 1 species. 



There remain, however, two described species unknown to us, viz. 

 Rallus maculosus (Vieill. N. D.xviii. p. 556, et Enc. Meth, p. 1066) 

 and Orex facialis (Tsch. F. P. p. 301). 



Subfam. I. RallinjE. 



Conspectus generum Rallinarum. 



a. nares apertae, perviae. 



«'. nares lineares, angustie 1. Rallus. 



h'. nares dilatatse, oblongo-lineares. 



a", rostrum longius quam caput 2. Aramides. 



b". rostrum brevius quam caput. 



a'", tarsus digi to medio longior 3. Porgana. 



b"'. tarsus digito medio brevior 4. Crex. 



b. nares antice membrana obtectse, impervire 5. Thyrorhina, 



Genus 1. Rallus. ^ 



Type. 



Rallus, Linn. S. N. i. p. 261 (1766) R. aquaticus. 



Va7-dirallus, Bp. C. R. xliii. p. 599 (1856) .... R. maculatus. 



Limnopardalis, Cab. J. f. O. 1856, p. 428 R. maculatus. 



Clavis specierum. 



a. albo variegatus 1. maculatus. 



b. non albo variegati. 



a', rostro incurvo. 



a", dorse variegato. 



„, . r dorsi flammuHs nigris 2. elegans. 



•' [ dorsi Hammulis fuscLs 3. longirostris. 



b'". minores. 



a"-', subtus rufescens 4. virginianus. 



' minor : lateribus distincte 



b"". subtus plumbei - 



albo vittatis 5. antarcticus. 



major: lateribus obsolete 



vittatis 6. semiphimbcus. 



b". dorso imicolori 7. rythirhynchus. 



b'. rostro recto 8. n igricans. 



