NORTHWESTERN MEXICO. 311 



258. Tigrisoma cahanisi Heine. 



Botaurus " Finsch, Abh. nat. Ver. zu Bremen, 1870, p. 357. 

 Mazatlan, Grayson. 



" This fine species may be met with at all seasons about the lagoons." 



259. Nyctiardea ncevia (Bodd.). 

 Mazatlan, Grayson; Rio de Coahuana, Xantus. 



" Resident, but not abundant." 



260. Nyctherodius violaceus (Linn.). 



" " Proc. Bost. Soc. of N. H., xiY., pp. 285, 301. 



Mazatlan, Grayson, Bischoff ; Rio de Coahuana, Xantus ; Tres Marias, Socorro, Grayson. 



" Quite numerous and resident ; it appears to be widely distributed throughout Mexico. It feeds chiefly 

 upon small fish, water reptiles and crabs, for which it hunts in the night. I have, however, seen the young of 

 the year seeking for food during the day, but the habits of the species are mainly nocturnal, and very much 

 resemble those of the common Night Heron ; it is perhaps a little less solitary, as I have often found therd 

 associating in small communities." 



Fam. Gruid^. 



261. Grus canadensis Linn. 

 Mazatlan, Grayson. 



"Make their appearance in this locality as early as the month of September, in considerable numbers, but 

 disappear before the end of March." - 



Fam. Rallid^. 



262. Rallus virginianus linn. 

 Mazatlan, Grayson. 



"Arrives in the latter part of October, disappears in the spring ; not abundant." 



263. Rallus elegans And. 

 Mazatlan, Grayson. 



264. Aramides axillaris Lawr. 

 Mazatlan, Grayson. 



"The Mangrove Rail, as its name indicates, inhabits, we miy say, almost exclusively the darkest recesses of 

 the mangrove swamps, that skirt the numerous esteros, putting out from the seacoast in tropical regions. 

 These small arms of the sea sometimes extend far inland, and often end in lakes ; they are mvariably frmged 

 with the mangrove, and the immense numbers of their roots form impenetrable brakes that defy the entrance 

 into their gloomy shades, either to the hunter or his dog. 



"The first bird of this species that I was able to procure I shot in December, 1866, near San Bias, i was 

 comina down from Los ChiUos in a canoe paddled by an Indian lad; it was a little after sunnse and we 

 were quietly 'huggin<^' the dense mangrove forest that lined the narrow estero on either side, whilst other 

 large trees ovei-arche°d the stream in many places. I was on the lookout, with my gun ready, for whatever 

 bird might present itself suitable for my collection ; I suddenly beheld so:nething running along upon the 

 muddy shore ; beneath the shadow of the mangroves it ever and anon stopped for a moment, and went through 

 certain curious evolutions of jerking up its short tail. I fired and killed it, but being very near, the specimen 



