CHAPTER XIV 



SHORE-BIRD SHOOTING {CONTINUED) 



THE JACANAS 



(Jacanidce) 



Just where to place the jacanas, ornithologists 

 were long in doubt ; in their habits, appearance, 

 and long toes they closely approach the rails; 

 but in their internal anatomy, their plover-like 

 bills, spurred wings, and the fleshy wattles on the 

 forehead, they resemble some of the shore-birds, 

 to whose ranks they have been finally joined. 

 There are about a dozen species inhabiting the 

 tropics of both hemispheres. They possess long 

 and slender legs, long toes, and extremely long 

 claws that enable them to run about on the broad 

 leaves of the water-plants that grow in the lakes 

 of their habitat. The bill is more sharply pointed 

 than that of a plover, but the long and sharp spur 

 on the bend of the wing and the strange lappet 

 on the forehead, together with their extremely 

 large, long toes, make them easy to identify. 

 Only one species reaches our southern border, in 

 Texas and Florida: active and noisy, it moves 

 with perfect ease on the lily-pads that float on 



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