314 GEEANOMOEPH^. 



-S. cinctus is perhaps a rarer bird than the last, being known only from the types 

 procured by Arce. The two forms may eventually prove to be male and female of the 

 same species. 



Order GERANOMORPHiE *. 



Following the arrangement proposed by Huxley in 1867, we include in this Order 

 the schizognathous birds ordinarily known as Rails and Cranes. The characters, 

 chiefly osteological, are given by him as follows {of. P. Z. S. 1867, p. 457) : — "The 

 rostrum is relatively stronger than in the Charadriomorphse, and may even be short 

 and arched ; basypterygoid processes are absent (except in Grus antigone) ; the maxillo- 

 palatines are concavo-convex or lamellar ; the angle of the mandible is truncated ; the 

 sternum in the typical groups is comparatively narrow and elongated, and may be 

 deeply notched or entire ; the feet vary greatly, but the toes are never completely or 

 even extensively webbed ; and the ratio of the phalanges is as in the Charadriomorphae ; 

 a greater or less space above the sufirago is devoid of feathers, but there appears to be 

 nothing characteristic about the pterylosis of this group," 



Since Huxley wrote, many additional characters have been put forward by Sclater, 

 Lydekker, Seebohm, Sharpe, and others, and, as a result, two distinct groups, Fulicariae 

 and Alectorides, are recognized by the last-named naturalist in the ' Catalogue of Birds,' 

 corresponding to the Ralliformes and Gruiformes af his later ' Classification.' We 

 recognize, therefore, two Suborders — the Fulicariae and the Alectorides — as adopted 

 in the 'Nomenclator Avium Neotropicalium.' 



Suborder FULICARI^ 



Among the many osteological characters given by Mr. Lydekker for this Suborder 

 (' Catalogue of Fossil Birds,' pp, 143, 144), the following are of particular importance. 

 He describes the Fulicariae as " schizognathous " birds, having the angle of the mandible 

 truncated, the coracoid with a large subclavicular process, and the delto-pectoral crest 

 and facet for the pectoralis minor in the humerus normal ; there is no ectepicondylar 

 process on the humerus, and in this respect it resembles that of the Alectorides. 



The Rails, which are the principal representatives of the Fulicariae, have holorhinal 

 nostrils, and a single notch on each side of the posterior margin of the sternum. In 

 outward appearance they are chiefly remarkable for their slender and compressed 

 bodies, adapted for threading their way in the swamps and reed-beds which most of 

 them frequent. Representatives of this suborder are found in the New World, 

 amongst which the Fin-foots (Heliorms) are perhaps the most peculiar of the Neotro- 

 pical forms. 



* 1 have to acknowledge Dr. E. B. Sharpens assistance with the EaUs and the rest of the birds to be dealt 

 with in this volume. — F. D. G. 



