264 
COMMON JACANA. 
chesnut: spur on the wing yellow, and a quarter of an 
inch in length : the bend of the wing varied with 
black : the quills olive-yellow, tipped and partly edged 
with dusky; the outer quill margined throughout its 
length : tail rounded, chesnut tipped with black ; 
the two middle feathers varied with brown : legs 
greenish-ash. The young or Variable Jacana, of 
I^atham, is thus distinguislied : its beak is orange- 
yellow : crown of the head brown, with darker spots : 
the hind part of the neck the same, but deeper in co- 
lour : above the eye a white stripe, passing down on 
each side of the neck, and accompanied by a black 
one, which varies at the base of the beak, and passes 
through the eye : sides of the head, throat, fore part 
of the neck, breast, belly, thighs, and under tail- 
coverts white ; the sides of the belly and base of the 
thighs being slightly sprinkled with reddish spots : 
wing-spur yellow : scapulars pale brown : lesser wing- 
coverts purplish-chesnut ; the middle ones brown ; 
the greater black : the four inner quills are brown, 
the rest green, margined with black at their ends, 
and the outer one entirely so on its exterior web : 
legs bluish-ash. 
Inhabits Brasil, Surinam, St. Domingo, and other 
parts of South America and the West Indies ; fre- 
quenting marshy places, sides of ponds, &c. generally 
in pairs, and wade in the water in search of food : 
they pre very shy and noisy, their note very shrill, 
and may be heard at a great distance. 
