PARRTNJi. 
alarmed,  to  dive  into  the  water,  or  skulk  among  the  reeds  and  other  kinds  of  herbage  that  grow  on  the  niargi'^®  • 
oecasionally  they  seek  safety  by  a short  flight.  The  remarkable  length  of  their  toes  and  elaws  enables  them  to  wa-  ^ 
run  with  great  fiieility  over  the  plants  that  float  on  the  surfaee  of  the  water,  while  seeking  their  food,  which  consists 
aquatic  insects,  and  buds  and  seeds  of  the  plants.  The  neat  is  formed  among  the  reeds,  and  the  female  usually 
four  eggs. 
oo 
1.  V.jacana  Linn.  PI.  enl.  322.,  Edwards’-s  Birds,  pi.  357. — 
Parra  variabilis  Linn.  PI.  enl.  846.,  Edwards’s  Birds,  pi.  48. 
2.  ? P.  viridis  Gmel. 
.3.  } P.  brasiliensis  Gmel. 
4.  ? P.  nigra  Gmel. 
.5.  P.  hypomelana  G.  R.  Gray. 
6.  ? P.  chilensis  Molin.  Chil.  p.  229. 
7-  V.  ggmnostomaWa.^.  Isis,  1831.  p.  51 6. 
8.  P.  cordifera  Less.  Rev.  Zool.  1842.  p.  210. 
9.  P.  nfricana  Gmel.  Lath.  Gen.  Syn.  v.  pi.  87.,  Swains.  Zool. 
111.  n.  s.  pi.  6. 
10.  P.  oapensis  A.  Smith,  111.  S.  Afr.  Zool.  Birds,  pi.  ^2.  ^ 
11.  P.  albinucha  1.  Geoffr.  Mag.  de  Zool.  1832.  Aves,  ’’ 
Parra  atricollis  Swains.  Two  Cent,  and  a Quart,  p.  334.  , 
12.  P.  indica  Lath.  — Parra  aenea  Cuv, ; P*  g^s. 
Lieill.  Gal.  des  Ois.  t.  264. ; P.  superciliosa  Horsf.  LinU" 
xiii.  p.  194.,  Zool.  Res.  pi. ; Type  of  Metopidius  Ifagl- 
13.  P.  cristata  Vieill.  N.  Diet.  d’Hist.  Nat.  xvi.  p- 46d' 1 
of  Hydralector  IFdpl.  (1832.) 
1 4.  P.  gallinacea  Temm.  PI.  col.  464.,  Gould,  B.  of  AusW-  P 
Hydrophasianus  Wagl. 
of 
Wings  very  long,  ivith  the  first  quill  nearly  as  long  as  the  second,  Avhich  is  the  longest,  the  ^ 
the  first  three  quills  more  or  less  prolonged,  and  the  first  one  slightly  and  partly  webbed ; the  ends  o 
the  fourth  to  the  seventh  prolonged,  narrowed,  and  falcated.  Tail  narrowed,  with  the  four  oentr® 
feathers  much  prolonged,  and  the  lateral  feathers  short  and  graduated.  The  base  of  the  bill  and 
entirely  covered  with  feathers.  The  other  characters  like  those  of  the  former  genus. 
The  bird  which  forms  this  division  is  found  in  various  parts  of  India ; and  its  habits  and  manners  are  similar 
previously  given. 
to 
11.  .sinensis 
(Gmel.)  Wagl.  Lath.  Gen.  Syn.  Suppl.  pi.  177.,  Gould,  Cent,  of  B.  pi.  — Parra  luzoniensis  Gmel.  Sonn.  Voy.  t.  4J' 
* Established  by  IVagler  in  1832  (Isis,  1832,  p.  27.9.). 
May,  1846. 
4 u 
