Rails of the World, a Compilation of New Information, 1975-1983 (Aves: Rallidae)

Ripley, S. Dillon, and Bruce M. Beehler. Rails of the World, a Compilation of New Information, 1975-1983 (Aves: Rallidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, number 417, 28 pages, 2 figures, 1985.—The senior author's monographic treatment of the Rallidae, published in 1977, was based on data available to 1975. Corrections and additions to that treatment are presented here in the form of species accounts of rails, following the sequence presented in Rails of the World (Ripley, 1977). Relevant new information on the biology of the Rallidae are summarized, and appended is a bibliography of recent publications treating the members of the family. The accounts include the description of one species new to science, Rallus okinawae Yamashina and Mano, and four new subspecies: Rallus philippensis tounelieri Schodde and De Naurois, Laterallus jamaicensis tuerosi Fjeldsa, Amaurornis phoenicurus midnicobaricus Abdulali, and Fulica "ardesiaca" atrura Fjeldsa. A new systematic arrangement for the genus Laterallus, devised by Storer, is compared with that in Ripley (1977). Taxonomic notes are made on populations ofRallus pectoralis, Laterallus jamaicensis, Amaurornis phoenicurus, and Gallinula chloropus. Previously undescribed plumages of Atlantisia rogersi, Laterallus leucopyrrhus, Porzana spiloptera, and Gallinula tenebrosa are detailed. Range extensions are documented for Eulabeornis wolfi, Rallus maculatus, Coturnicops ayresi, C. schomburgkii, Laterallus levraudi, L. xenopterus, Porzana albicollis, and P. erythrops. New ecological data for Rallus limicola, Gallirallus australis, Porzana fluminea, Gallinula alleni, and Fulica americana are reviewed. Remarks on behavior are included for Porzana Jlavirostra, P. Carolina, Gallinula mortieri, and G. tenebrosa. New nesting observations are described for Eulabeornis castaneoventris, E. concolor, Rallina tricolor, Gallinula chloropus, and Fulica gigantea. Descriptions are made of calls of Canirallus cuvieri, Rallina euryzonoides, and Coturnicops rufa, among others. Status reports on the following endangered populations are summarized: Rallus poecilopterus, R. owstoni, R. semiplumbeus, R. longirostris levipes, Porzana marginalis, and Gallinula nesiotis. Finally, emendations of the original text are made for Rallus philippensis, Rallina leucospila, Rallina canningi, Laterallus exilis, L. melanophaius, and Amaurornis akool. The species accounts are followed by a list of references cited in the accounts, supplemented by uncited works that offer additional specialized information; in combination, this bibliography represents a nine-year survey of the copious rallid literature. OFFICIAL PUBLICATION DATE is handstamped in a limited number of initial copies and is recorded in the Institution's annual report, Smithsonian Year. SERIES COVER DESIGN: The coral Montastrea cavernosa (Linnaeus). Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Ripley, Sidney Dillon, 1913Rails of the world. (Smithsonian contributions to zoology ; no. 417) Bibliography: p. Supt. of Docs, no.: SI 1.27:417 1. Rallidae. I. Beehler, Bruce McP. II Title. III. Series. QL1.S54 no. 417 [QL696.G876] 591s [598'.31] 84-600393