JACANAS. eee 
3 
may often be seen flying together over a marsh; while these birds may often be 
flushed in crowds from one spot, where they must have been feeding in close 
proximity. They are never found away from covert, although on rare oceasions the 
common species has been observed perching on a tree; and they never settle where 
the water is deep enough to wet the feathers of the breast. At ordinary seasons a 
very silent bird, when breeding, the common snipe utters a peculiar two-syllabled 
note, compared to tyihk-tyuk, of which the utterance is accompanied by a nodding 
of the head. Moreover, the males at the same season indulge in the peculiar per- 
formance known as “drumming,” during which they may be seen flying diagonally 
upwards or round and round in large circles, and then suddenly swooping down 
with vibrating half-closed wings and outspread tail; the “drumming,” which has 
been compared to the bleating of a goat, being only produced during the descent. 
In Britain newly laid eggs of the common snipe may be found from the 
middle of April till the middle of May; the nest being a hollow, lined with dried 
grass, usually placed in the middle of a tussock of rushes or coarse grass in a 
swamp, or under the protecting shelter of the same. The four eggs are somewhat 
variable in hue, the ground-colour being some shade of buff or olive, upon which 
are large blotches of rich, dark brown, with large underlying markings of lighter 
brown and grey. The main duty of incubation is performed by the hen-bird; and 
but a single brood is produced during the year. In the Arctic regions the eggs, 
like those of the jack-snipe, are not laid till June. 
JACANAS AND WATER-PHEASANTS. 
Family PARRIDE. 
Mainly from the circumstance that many of them have a naked shield on the 
forehead, like that of the coots and moor-hens, the members of the present small 
family were formerly classed with the rails, although their true position appears to 
be here. From the Charadrvide they are distinguished by the presence of un- 
ossified vacuities in the occipital surface of the skull; while they differ from all 
other birds in the extraordinary elongation of their toes. They are handsomely 
coloured birds, black, or black-and-white, being the predominating tints; but the 
young are less brilliant than the adults. The group is confined to South America, 
Africa south of the Tropic of Cancer, the Indian region, Australia, and Papua. 
nae The jacanas (Parra), of which there are ten species, have a dis- 
tribution coextensive with that of the family; and although their 
fossil remains have not been discovered, it is probable that they lived in Europe 
during the Tertiary period, and have reached their present habitat by a southerly 
migration. The species here figured (P. nigra) is an inhabitant of Brazil. They 
are long-legged, slenderly-built birds, with short tails, spurs on the wings, and the 
aforesaid shield on the head. Insectivorous in their diet, they frequent lakes and 
quiet rivers, where their long toes enable them to walk over the leaves of the water- 
lihes. The nest is a rude structure, built near the edge of the water; and the eggs, 
which vary from four to six in number, and have a bluish green ground with liver- 
coloured spots, often rest on the bare soil. 
