Family PARRIDJS: The Jacanas.
Parridm, "Selys, 1842".— Gray, Hand-list, III, 1871, 69.— Scl. & Salv., Norn. Neotr.
1873, viii, 142.— Boucard, Cat. Av. 1876, IX, 11.
< Rallidw, Vigors (fide Gray).— Lilljeborg, P. Z. S. 1866, 17.
— Parrince, Gray, List Genera B. 1840, — ; 2d ed. 1841, 91 ( < Palamedtidw). — Gray &
Mitch., Genera B. 4to, III, 1849, 588 ( < PaJamedeidm) ; Genera and Subg. 1855,
119 ( < Palamedeidw).— Lilljeborg, P. Z. S. 1866, 17 ( < EalUdw).
< Palamedeidw, Gray, I. c.
< GallinuUdce, Blas. (fide Gray).
Ch. — Small-sized wading birds, combining the general appearance of Bails and Plovers, but differing from either in the remarkable and ex- cessive elongation of the toes and claws, the latter nearly straight and much compressed, that of the hallux much longer than its digit and slightly recurved.
The above brief diagnosis is sufficient to distinguish the Jacanas from all other wading birds. Their nearest allies appear to be the Plovers, from which they differ chiefly in the character of the feet, as pointed out above. The single American genus Parra, Lath., is further charac- terized by the presence of leaf-like lobes at the base of the bill, and a sharp, conical spur projecting from the inside of the bend of the wing, in the possession of which features they present a striking analogy to certain Plovers, as the genera Lobivanellus, Strickl., and Hoplopterus, Bonap. The genus Parra, of which there are several species, all Ameri- can,* is characterized as follows : —
Genus PARRA, Linnaeus.
< Jacana, Briss., Orn. V, 1760, 121. Type, Parra jacana, Auct. (Includes Hydralector, Wagl., and MetopodiuSj Wagl.) < Gallinulaj Kay (fide Gray). <Parra, Linn., S. N. I, 1766, 259. Type, P. dominica, Linn. ,— Lobivanellus hrissoni, (Wagl.) ! (Includes also Chauna and Jacana.) — Latham, Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 762. Type, P. jacana, Linn. (Includes Hydrophasianus, Wagl., Chauna, Illiger, and Metopodius, Wagl.)— Gray, Hand-list, III, 1871, 69 (subg. Parra), = Parra, Gray, List Genera, 2d ed. 1841, 91 ; Gen. and Subg. 1855, 119, No. 1976.— Gray & Mitch., Genera B. Ill, 1849, 288.— Scl., P. Z. S. 1856, 282 (synopsis of species).— Scl. & Salv., Norn. Neobr. 1873, 142 (list of species).— Boucard, Cat. Ay. 1876, 11 (list of species).
Ch. — Eeiniges normal. Eectrices 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 orna- mented by a smaller lobe (rudimentary in P. gymnostoma).
The above characters are chiefly those which distinguish the Ameri- can genus Parra from its Old World allies SydropJtasianus^ Ifetopo-
- For a synopsis of the species of this genus, see Sclater " On the American Genus
Parra", in Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1856, p. 282.
i " Hydrophasiamts, Wagler, 1832." Type, R. clilrurgus (Scopoli).
