176 



PR^ECOCIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOLiE. 



Char. Remiges normal ; rectrices much abbreviated, very soft, entirely concealed by the tail- 

 coverts; forehead with large leaf-like lobe, free laterally and posteriorly, adhering centrally and 

 anteriorly ; rictus ornamented by a smaller lobe (rudimentary in P. gymnostovia). 



The above characters are chiefly those which distinguish the American genus Parra from its 

 Old World allies Hydrophasianus,''- Metopodius,^ and Iliidmlector.^ I am unaljle to state in just 

 what essential particulars the two latter differ from Parra, never having seen specimens of any 

 species of either form. The first, however, differs very widely in the great develojjment of tlie 

 rectrices, of which tlie intermedite are excessively elongated ; in the curious attenuation of the pri- 

 maries, which are, moreover, of very unequal length, and in the entire absence of lobes about the 

 base of the bill. Tliese characters I have drawn from figures of the single species, S. chirurgus, 

 Scoi'OLi, not having seen the bird itself. 



In addition to the generic characters given above, the following also may Ije mentioned : — 



Bill somewhat Plover-lif;e in form, the liasal half with the upper and lower outlines neaily 

 parallel and decidedly approximated, the teriuinnl half of the culmen strong]}' convex, the gonys 

 nearly straight, and decidedly ascending terminally ; nostrils small, horizontal, elliptical, situated 

 about half-way between the anterior angle of the eye and the tip of the bill. Primaries ten, 

 reaching to the tips of the tertials, the three outer i|uills longest and nearly equal, theirinner webs 

 slightly narrowed near the end. Tarsus and bare portion of the tibia covered by a continuous 

 frontal and posterior series of transverse scutellre, these sometimes fused into continuous sheaths ; 

 mitldle toe (exclusive of its claw) about equal to the tarsus (sometimes a little shorter) ; outer toe 

 equal to the middle toe, but its claw a little shorter ; inner toe a little shorter than the outer, but 

 its claw considerably longer ; hallux about equal to the basal phalanx of the middle toe, but its 

 claw reaching nearly, if not quite, to the end of the middle toe. 



Parra gymnostoina. 



THE MEXICAN JACANA. 



Parra gyinnostoma, W.\gl. Isis, 1S31, 517. — Sol. & Salv. Norn. Neotr. 1873, 1-12. — Mehrill, Buff. 

 Nutt. Orn. Cbilj, I. Nov. 1876, 88 (Fort Brown, Texas) ; Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. I. 1878, 167 

 (Fort Brown). — Kidgw. ilx (synonymy; descriptions); Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, no. .')68. — 

 CouEs, Clieck List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 672. 



Parra cordifera. Less. Rev. Zool. 1842, 13;'i (Aeapulco). — Des Murs, Icon. Oiu. pi. 42. 



Hab. The whole (jf Central America, from Panama to Northern Mexico ; lower Rio Grande 

 Valley of Texas, at Fort Brown (Merrill, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. I. 1878, 1()7; ; Cuba. 



Sp. Char. Adidl: Wing, 4.50-.5.40 ; culmen, 1.15-1.40 ; tarsus, 1.90-2.35 ; middle toe, 1.85- 



2.25.* Head, neck, jugulum, and e.xtreme anterior portion of the back uniform bhick, with a faint 

 silky green gloss below. Rest of the plumage mainly unilorm rich purplish chestnut, with a 



1 " Hydrophusiumts, Wagl. 1832" (type, E. chirurgus, ScoPOM). 



- " Metopodias, Wagl. 1832" (type, Porra afrkana, hkTW., fide Gray). 



^ " Btjdralcclor, Wagl. 1832" (ij\iQ, Parra cristata, Yikill., fide Gray). 



* Extremes of tliirteeu examples. 



