Description of a new Clapper rail from Florida

Vol. 33, pp. 33-34 July 24, 1920

PROCEEDINGS

3f the

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

DESCRIPTION OF A NEW ^{CLAPPER RAIL FROM}

FLORIDA.

BY HARRY

^C.

OBERHOLSER.

A _clapper

^rail

obtained by ^Dr. Paul Bartsch on

his

recent

trip to

the Florida Keys proves

^to

belong

^to

an undescribed

race

which may ^be

^called

Rallus longirostris helius, subsp. nov.

Mangrove

Clapper ^Rail.

Chars,_subsp.

—

Similar to Ralluslongirostris^scottifrom western ^Florida but

much

_lighter both above

and

below, the edgingson the upperparts

much

lessolivaceous(moreclearly grayish).

Description.

—

_Type, adult male, No. 255254, U. S. National

Museum;

sixth key ^{in the}

Newfound Harbor

group, southwest of Big ^Pine

Key,

Florida,

May

^{12, 1919; Dr. Paul Bartsch. Pileum olivebrown, the cen-}

ters of the feathers darker; hind neck between Saccardo's

umber and

sepia, mixed with grayish feather edgings, which posteriorly impart ^a streakedappearance; back

and

scapularswiththe featherscentrally sepia, marginally^cleargray;

rump ^and

uppertail-covertssepiawithbroad,dull, olive gray feather margins; ^tail between olive

brown and

fuscous, the shaftsoftherectricesclovebrown; wings dark^olivebrown, ^theouter

and

inner edges ^of the quills lighter, the superior coverts ^still lighter

and

inclining tocinnamon, the inner coverts

washed

with grayish; outer

web

ofoutermostfeatherofalulamottled

and

_{partlyedged with}pale

cinnamon

;

sidesofheadratherdarkneutral gray, the^loresdarker

and more

brown-

ish, the supraloralstripe andline

on

the lowereyelid dull white; ^{sides of} necklightneutral gray

washed

with_buffy, posteriorlydarker, ^lesspurely gray

and

indistinctly streaked with dull brown; ^chin

and

throat white;

malarstripe pale ochraceousbuff;centerofjugulum

and

whole of breast, between pinkish ^buff

and

pinkish cinnamon, the middle of breast_paler;

abdomen

dull,buffy white;sides of

body and

^flanksratherdark brownish gray, broadly ^barred withwhite; lowertail-coverts white, widelybarred

5—

Proc. Biol. Soc.Wash.,Vol. 33, 1920. (33)

34 Proceedings

of^theBiological Society of

Washington.

withdark brownishgray;lining ofwing^ratherdarkhairbrown, outwardly

washed

with _rusty,

and

_narrowly barred with white; thighs anteriorly dull white, posteriorly

mouse

_{gray. Wing,} 147

mm.;

^tail,64; exposed culmen, 62; tarsus, 50;middletoewithout_claw,45.

Thisinteresting

new

railisincolorbetweenRalluslongirostris crepitans

and

Rallus longirostris waynei, although ^{it is smaller} than either. It is

apparently ^{confined to the Florida} Keys, although ^it possibly

may

^ex-

tendtothe adjacentmainland. Itsnortheastern distribution yetremains tobe determined.