176 
PRJ5C0CIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOLiE. 
Char. Remiges normal ; rectrices much abbreviated, very soft, entirely concealed by the tail- 
coverts; forehead with large leaf-like lobe, free laterally and posteriorly, adhering centrally and 
anteriorly ; rictus ornamented by a smaller lobe (rudimentary in P. gymnostoma ). 
The above characters are chiefly those which distinguish the American genus Parra from its 
Old World allies Hydrophasianus, 1 Metopodius , 2 and Hydraledor . 3 I am unable to state in just 
what essential particulars the two latter differ from Parra, never having seen specimens of any 
species of either form. The first, however, differs very widely in the great development of the 
rectrices, of which the intermediae are excessively elongated ; in the curious attenuation of the pri- 
maries, which are, moreover, of very unequal length, and in the entire absence of lobes about the 
base of the bill. These characters I have drawn from figures of the single species, H. cliirurgus, 
Scopoli, not having seen the bird itself. 
In addition to the generic characters given above, the following also may be mentioned : — 
Bill somewhat Plover-like in form, the basal half with the upper and lower outlines nearly 
parallel and decidedly approximated, the terminal half of the culmen strongly convex, the gonys 
nearly straight, and decidedly ascending terminally ; nostrils small, horizontal, elliptical, situated 
about half-way between the anterior angle of the eye and the tip of the bill. Primaries ten, 
reaching to the tips of the tertials, the three outer quills longest and nearly equal, their inner webs 
slightly narrowed near the end. Tarsus and bare portion of the tibia covered by a continuous 
frontal and posterior series of transverse scutellie, these sometimes fused into continuous sheaths ; 
middle toe (exclusive of its claw) about equal to the tarsus (sometimes a little shorter) ; outer toe 
equal to the middle toe, but its claw a little shorter ; inner toe a little shorter than the outer, but 
its claw considerably longer ; hallux about equal to the basal phalanx of the middle toe, but its 
claw reaching nearly, if not quite, to the end of the middle toe. 
Parra gymnostoma. 
THE MEXICAN JACANA. 
Parra gymnostoma, Wagl. Isis, 1831, 517. — Sol. & Salv. Nom. Neotr. 1873, 142. — Merrill, Bull. 
Nutt. Orn. Club, I. Nov. 1876, 88 (Fort Brown, Texas) ; Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. I. 1878, 167 
(Fort Brown). — Ridgw. ib. (synonymy; descriptions); Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 568. — 
Coues, Check List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 672. 
Parra cordifera, Less. Rev. Zool. 1842, 135 (Acapulco). — Des Mues, Icon. Orn. pi. 42. 
Hab. The whole of Central America, from Panama to Northern Mexico; lower Rio Grande 
Valley of Texas, at Fort Brown (Merrill, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. I. 1878, 167; ; Cuba. 
Sp. Char. Adult: Wing, 4.50-5.40 ; culmen, 1.15-1.40 ; tarsus, 1.90-2.35 ; middle toe, 1.85- 
2.25. 4 Head, neck, jugulum, and extreme anterior portion of the back uniform black, with a faint 
silky green gloss below. Rest of the plumage mainly uniform rich purplish chestnut, with a 
1 '•‘■Hydrophasianus, Wagl. 1832” (type, II. cliirurgus, Scopoli). 
2 “ Metopodius , Wagl. 1832 ” (type, Parra africana, Lath., fide Gray). 
3 “Hydraledor, Wagl. 1832” (type, Parra cristata, Vieill ,,ficlc Gray). 
4 Extremes of thirteen examples. 
