AMAUROLIMNAS. — POEZANA. 321 



This genus differs from the true Rails in the form of the bill, which is shorter and 

 deeper than in Mallus and Aramides. 



Ammirolim7ias has but one species, A. concolor, a small Crake, with the plumage, 

 including the under wing-coverts and the axillaries, of a uniform dull colour ; the 

 tarsus and middle toe are nearly the same length ; the bill is somewhat more elongated 

 than in the allied genera, the culmen being equal to the inner toe. 



1. Amaurolinmas concolor. 



Rallus concolor, Gosse, Birds of Jamaica, p. 369, t 103 \ 



Porzana concolor, Scl. & Salv. P.Z. S. 1868, p. 452'; ScL Ibis, 1873, p. 373 '. 



Amaurolimnas concolor, Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxiii. p. 87 *. 



Corethrura cayennensis (nee Gm.), Moore, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 64' ; Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 230 ^ 



Corethrura guatemalensis, Lawr. Pr. Acad. Philad. 1863, p. 106 '. 



Supra rufescenti-brunneus, dorso vix olivascente adumbrato ; alls caudaque Isetius castaneis ; pileo dorso 

 conoolore vix saturatiore ; superciliis facie lateral! et corpore subtus toto saturate vinaeeo-castaneis, 

 mento summo paullo pallidiore. Long, tofca circa 7'5, alae 4"35, caudae 1'8, culm. I'O, tarsi 1-4. (Descr. 

 exempl. ad. ex Guatemala. Mus. nostr.) 



ir«5. Guatemala 2 7 (^M'Leannaoi^) ; Honduras, Omoa {Leyland^ ^) ; Nicabagua, 

 Chontales (Belt^*). — Guiana 4; Brazil^; Jamaica^. 



Little is known of this bird. Leyland says that it was not common near Omoa, 

 where the species kept to the bush and ran like a Quail. It uttered a shrill whistle 

 resembling that of a Tinamou, and its note might easily be mistaken for that of one 

 of the latter birds. 



PORZANA. 



Porzana, Vieill. Analyse, p. 61 (1816) ; Shajpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxiii. p. 92 (1894). 



The genus Porzana, which contains the typical Crakes, is distinguished from the 

 foregoing by the somewhat shorter tarsus, which is exceeded in length by that of the 

 middle toe and claw. The secondaries are shorter than the primaries, and the difference 

 in length is greater than that of the hind toe and claw, so that the wing is slightly less 

 rounded than in some of the allied genera. The sexes are alike in colour, and the 

 northern forms are migratory. 



About fourteen species are known, these being distributed over the greater portion 

 of the globe, but only one, P. Carolina, a migrant from North America, occurs 

 within our limits. 



1. Porzana Carolina. 



The Little American Water-hen, Edwards, Nat. Hist. Birds, iii. t. 144'. 

 Rallus carolinus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 268 ^ 



Porzana Carolina, Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 230% 1864, p. 372*, 1868, p. 450'; Lawr. Ann. Lye. 

 N. Y. vii. p. 479° ; Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. p. 312''; Scl. P. Z. S. 1864, p. 179'; Salv. 

 BIOL. CENTK.-AMEE., Avcs, Vol. HI., April 1903. 41 



