Fam. VI. PARRIDAE.–Of the extraordinary long-toed Jaçanas, {298}_Parra jacana_, ranging from Ecuador and Guiana to Bolivia and Argentina, has a red frontal lappet, bilobed posteriorly, a red wattle at each side of the gape, an orange bill, olive feet, and a well-developed yellow carpal spur. The plumage is chestnut, with greenish-black head, neck, and under parts, maroon sides, and yellow remiges, the wing- and tail-quills being tipped with brownish-black. _P. melanopygia_ of Panama and Colombia is darker and more maroon above; _P. nigra_, of those countries and Venezuela, is entirely greenish-black, except for the wings; _P. gymnostoma_ (_variabilis_), found from South Texas to Costa Rica, with Cuba, Porto Rico, and Haiti, has the frontal lappet trilobed, lacks the rictal wattles, and in colour resembles _P. melanopygia_, though the maroon extends to the belly. The young in this genus are chiefly bronzy-brown above and buffish-white below; and the nestlings–at least in _P. gymnostoma_–are curiously marked with tawny, black, buff, and white. _Metopidius indicus_, occurring from India to Cochin China, and in Sumatra, Java, and Celebes, has a large blue frontal shield, small blunt spurs, and no rictal wattles; the bill is pink, blue, and green; the feet are slaty. The head, neck, remiges, and under parts are greenish-black, varying to purple, the chin and superciliary streak are white, the mantle is bronze, the lower back maroon, and the tail chestnut. The young are much greener above than in the last genus. _M. albinucha_ of Madagascar and _M. africanus_ of most of the Ethiopian Region have a smaller shield, loosely connected behind, which is grey in the former, leaden blue in the latter, as are the bill and feet. The cinnamon-brown plumage is varied in the first-named by a black occiput and throat and white nape, in its congener by a white neck, black nape, and golden upper breast. The tail is chestnut and the primaries black. The very small _Microparra capensis_, of South and South-East Africa, has no shield or wattles, and is greyish-brown, becoming orange on the crown, rump, and tail; the nape and upper mantle are purplish-black, the wings blackish with a white alar bar, the under parts white with golden sides to the neck. The bill and feet are brownish, the spur in this genus and the next being as in _Metopidius_. _Hydralector gallinaceus_, ranging from Borneo and Celebes to New Guinea and Australia–if _H. novae guineae_ be not separated–is chiefly black; the back being greyish-olive, the throat and abdomen white, the cheeks, with the sides and front of the neck, golden. A red lappet with an erect central protuberance covers the forehead; the bill is {299}red, yellow, and black; the legs are red and olive. Young birds are mainly reddish-brown, with white below. _Hydrophasianus chirurgus_, of most of the Indian Region, is bronzy-brown above and purplish-black below, with no fleshy outgrowths, but a large, sharp spur.