316 EALLID^. 



sentatives are peculiarly coloured, having the breast huffy-vinous or rufous, instead of 

 "rev, as in the Old- World forms. 



1. Rallus tenuirostris. 



Rallus elegans, var. tenuirostris, Ridgw. Amer. Nat. viii. p. 14 '. 



Rallus elegans tenuirostris, Ferrari-Perez, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. ix. p. 177 ^ 



Rallus tenuirostris, Ridgw. Man. N. Amer. Birds, p. 138' ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxiii. 



p. 10 \ 

 Rallvs longirostris (nee Bodd.), Sol. P. Z. S. 1864, p. 179'; Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. Water-Birds 



N. Amer. i. p. 358 (pt.) \ 

 Rallus elegans (nee Audub.), Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1868, p. 444 (pt.) ' ; Lawr. Mem. Bost. Soc. X. H. 



ii. p. 311'. 

 Rallvs crepitans (nee Gm.), Herrera, La Nat. (2) i. pp. 186 ', 327 ". 



Brunneus, nigro late striolatus, plnmis singulis medialiter nigris brunneo longitndinaliter marginatis ; 

 tectricibns alarum exterioribns concoloribus fermgineis ; tecfcricibus primariorum remigibusque sepiariis, 

 secundariis intimis dorso concoloribus ; rectricibus nigris, brunneo marginatis ; pileo nuchaque saturate 

 brunneis concoloribus, frontis plumamm rhachidibus nitentibus nigris ; loris at regione parotica famoso- 

 brunneis, fascia supralorali alba vix rufo tincta ; genis et gula albis, iUis vinaceo-rufo .supeme lavatis ; 

 gutture imo et pectore toto saturate vinaceo-ferrugineis ; abdomine medio albido ; corporis lateribus et 

 subalaribus brunneis, fasciis albis nigro-marginatis transversim notatis ; snbcaudalibus albis : rostro 

 brunneo, mandibula flavicante ; pedibus brunneis : iride rubra. Long, tota circa 14-0, alae 5'6, 

 caudae 2-3, culm. 2-15, tarsi l-To. (Descr. avis adulti ex Galley of Mexico. Mus. nostr.) 



Juv. adulto similis, sed corporis lateribus rufescente lavatis, concoloribus, vix pallidius transfasciatis ; snbcau- 

 dalibus vinaceis, longioribns aJbis subterminaliter nigro maculatis. 



Hai. Mexico, Mazatlan ( Grayson ^), Valley of Mexico ( miite ^ ^ ^, Herrera ^ 1°), Laguna 

 del Eosario, Tlaxcala [Ferrari-Perez ^). 



R. tenuirostris is the Mexican representative of B. elegans, which is widely distributed 

 in the Nearctic Eegion, and is replaced by several closely allied forms in Central and 

 South America. It differs chiefly from the North- American bird in having the flanks 

 brown, with numerous narrow transverse bars of a lighter colour. 



No special notes have been published on its habits, but they are doubtless similar to 

 those of the North- American species, which are described as shy, frequenting mangroves 

 on the sea-shore or reedy marshes. 



Messrs. Newton, in their " Observations on the Birds of the Island of St. Croix " (Ibis, 

 1859, pp. 260, 261), state that the allied R. longirostris is very noisy, especially in the 

 evening, and that when a gun is fired in their haunts they may be heard on every side. 



The eggs are about ten in number, and vary from pale buff to a dirty white, with 

 spots and blotches of reddish-brown, lilac, and slate-colour «. 



2. Rallus virginianus. 



Le Rasle de Virginie, Briss. Orn. v. p. 175'. 



Rallus virginianus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 263'; Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1860, p. 277'; P. Z. S. 1868, 

 p. 445 * ; Dresser, Ibis, 1866, p. 40 ' ; Lawr. Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. p. 31 P ; Baird, Brew/ 



