Chinese Jacana.
Parra Sinensis, Lath. Ind. Om .,.v o l.. ii. p. 7.64.—Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p a rt ii. p. 709.—Gould,
Century of B irds, pi. 77.—Gray, 111. Ind. Zool., vol. ii. pi. 55.— Hodgs.. in Gray’s Zool. Misc. p . 86.—
Sykes in Proc. o f Comm, o f _Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., p a rt ii. p. 164;— Steph. Cont. o f Shaw’s
Gen. Zool., vol. xii. p a r t i; p. 269.—Vieill. 2nd Edit: d u ‘Nouv. Diet. d’H ist. Nat. tom. xvi. p. 451.—
•• lb . Ency. Méth. Omi,’p a r t iii. p. 1056:—Jerd . in Madrhs'Journ. of L it; and Sci., vol. xii. p .‘204.
Chinese Jacana, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. v. p. 246.—Ib . Su p p l/ vol.- ii: p. 324.—Lâth,' Gèn. Hist., vol. ix. p. 391.—
Ib. Gen. Syn. Supp., p. 256. pi. 117.
Parra Luzoniensis, Lath. In d .;O m .,v o l. ii; p. 764.—Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Na t., tom; i. p a r t ii. p: 709.—Yieill.
2nd Edit, du Nouv. Diet. d’H ist. Na t., tom, xvii. p. 447.—Ib. Ency. Méth. Ora-.,'part iii, p. 1057-.
Le Chirurgien de VIsle de Luçon, Sonn. Voy. à la Nouv. Guinée, p. 82. pi. 45.
Luzonian Jacana, Lath. Gen; Syn., vol. v. p. 245.—Ib. Supp., p. 256.—Ib . Gen. Hist., vol. ix. p. 390.
Le Jacana à longue queue, Cuv. Règn. Aninu, tom. i,;,p,-498-i- . . , .{
Parra phcenicura, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc., p. 86 (G ray ),
Hydrophasianus Sinensis, Wagl. in Oken’s Isis, 1832, p. 279 — Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 589.—
Gray, L ist of B irds in Coll. Brit. Mus,, p a rt iii. p. 114.—Ib . Cat. o f Spec, and Draw, of Mamm. and
Birds presented to Brit. M u s.b y B. H. Hodgson, Esq ., p. 1 4 2—Blyth, in J a rd ; Cont. to Orn. 1852,
p. 53.
Tringa chirurgus, Scopoli.
Hydrophasianus Chirurgus, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 273.
Dàl-Kukra, Hindoos, Blyth.
Bhépi o r Bhenpi, Bengalese, Blyth.
Vuppi-pi, Sohna, Surdul and Sookdel, Lath.
Pee wa, a t Cawnpore, Lath.
Pelcwar, o r Joll mor, Xath.
Water Peacock o f th e English, Lath.
T his species may certainly be considered one of the most elegant Jacanas yet discovered, and India may
well be proud o f so graceful an ornament to her marshes, for a residence among which its entire structure is
most admirably adapted, its body being light andbfioyant in the extreme, and the great expanse of its feet
and nails enabling it to traverse the floating herbage, leaves of the Nymphæa, &c. with thé g reatest facility.
On the other hand, the filamentous or lancet-shaped terminations of the primaries would seem to militate
against any great powers of flight, and accordingly while those who have had opportunities of observing it
in a state of nature duly record the facility with which it swims- and dives, they are silent as to its ‘flight.
That it is widely diffused over India, is evidenced by the circumstance that specimens occur in most
of the collections sent from that country ; i t is also said to inhabit China and the Philippines.
I t has beeii stated that the Chinese Jacana undergoes a seasonal change, hut I think that this has not
been clearly ascertained. To this point then I would direct the attention of those gentlemen who have_
opportunities of observing the bird in a state of nature. It is ju st possible that the females Xave the under
surface always white ; that the young males closely resemble them ; and that fully adult males are distinguished
by the style of plumage represented in the principal figure of the opposite Plate.
In ’Sir William Jardine’s “ Contributions to Ornithology” for 1852, Mr. Blyth informs us that “ A good
notice of the habits of the Hydrophasianus occurs in the ‘ Calcutta Sporting Review,’ vol. v. p. 7. ‘These
birds,’ remarks the writer, ‘ breed during the rains, in flooded spots where the lotus is plentiful, the pair
forming a rude flat nest of grass and weeds, interwoven beneath with the long shoots of some growing
aquatic plant, which retain it buoyant on the surface ; herein are laid six or seven olive-brown, pear-shaped
eggs, of an inch and a quarter in length. Their slender bodies and widely extending toes enable the
Jacanas to run with facility, apparently on the water, but in reality wherever any floating leaves or green
herbage meets their light tread. The food consists of the green tender paddy, or other vegetable growth
dependent on inundation for its production, and the numerous species of insects that abound in such spots.
The cry is like that of a kitten in distress, whence their native name o f meewah. In flight the legs are trailed
behind like those of the Herons. The flesh is excellent. It is remarkable, with respect to these birds, that