Page:Notes on the Ornithology of Southern Texas.djvu/52

Rh dim,* and HydraleetorA I am unable to state in just what essential particulars the two latter differ from Parra, never having seen speci- mens of any species of either form. The first, however, differs very widely in the great development of the rectrices, of which the inter- medin are excessively elongated ; in the curious attenuation of the primaries, 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. chirurgus (Scopoli), not hav- ing 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 10, 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 scutellse, these sometimes fused into continuous sheaths 5 middle toe (exclusive of its claw) about equal to the tarsus (sometimes a little shorter) 5 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.

211. Parra gymnostoma.

Parra gymnostoma, Wagler, Iais, 1831, 517.— Scl., P. Z. S. 1856, 283 (S. Mexico to New Granada. Diagnosis and synonymy) ; 1857, 206 ( Jalapa). — Scl. & Salv., Ibis, 1859, 231 (Belize, Honduras ; Peten, Guatemala) ; Norn. Neotr. 1873, 142.— Taylor, Ibis, 1860, 315 (Honduras).— Salvin, Ibis, 1870, 116 (Costa Rica); P. Z. S. 1870, 218 (Costa Rica).— Lawr., Mem. Boston Soc. II, 1874, 312 (Mazatlan, Manzanillo Bay, Zacatula R., and Rio de Coahuyana, W. Mexico. Habits. Descr. nest and eggs) ; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. No. 4, 1876, 50 (Isth. Tehuantepec).— Merrill, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, I, Nov. 1876, 88 (Ft. Brown, Texas; 1 pair; August).

Parra cordifera, Less., Rev. Zool. 1842, 135 (Acapulco. Descr. adult). — Des Murs, Icon. Orn. 1845, pi. 42.

Sp. CH.— Adult: Wing, 4.50-5.40; culmen, 1.15-1.40; tarsus, 1.90- 2.35; middle toe, 1.85-2.25.$ Head, neck, jugulum, and extreme an- terior portion of the back uniform black, with a faint silky glossy-green gloss below. Eest of the plumage mainly uniform rich purplish chest- nut, with a faint purple gloss, brightest or most rufescent on the wings,


 * " MetopodiuSj Wagler, 1832." Type, Parra africana, Lath., fide Gray.

t " Hydralector, Wagler, 1832." Type, Parra cristata, Vieill., fide Gray.

t Extremes of thirteen examples.