Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/555

J A C J A C 531 The diligence road from Zaragoza to Pan by the Puerto de Canfranc passes through Jaca. The origin of the city is unknown. The Jaccetani (la.KK.riTa.voi} are mentioned as one of the most celebrated of the numerous small tribes inhabiting the basin of the Ebro by Strabo (p. 161), who adds that their territory was the theatre of the wars between Sertorius and Pompey, and afterwards between Pompey s son Sextus and the generals of Caesar. They are probably identical with the Lacetani of Livy (xxi. 60, 61) and Caesar (B.C., i. 60). Jaca at an early period of the invasion fell into the possession of the Moors, by whose writers it is referred to under the name of Dyaka as one of the chief places in the province of Sarkosta (Zaragoza). The date of its reconquest is uncertain, but it must have been before the time of Ramiro, who gave it the title of " city," and in 1063 held within its walls a council, which, inasmuch as the people were called in to sanc tion its decrees, is regarded as having been of great importance in the history of the parliamentary institutions of the peninsula. The original "fuero" of Jaca is one of the oldest extant. In 1705 Jaca was the only city which stood out for King Philip, from whom, in consequence, it received the title of "muy noble, muy lealy vence- dora." In the war of independence in 1809 it surrendered to the French ; it also yielded to General Mina in 1814. JACAMAR, a word formed by Brisson from Jacameri, the Brazilian name of a bird, as given by Marcgrave, and, since adopted in most European tongues for the species to which it was first applied and others allied to it, form ing the Family Galbulidse 1 of ornithologists, the precise position of which is uncertain, since the best authorities differ greatly thereupon. All will agree that the Jacamars belong to the great heterogeneous group called by Nitzsch Picarise, but further into detail it is hardly safe to go. The Galbulidse have zygodactylous feet, like the Cuculidse, Bucconidce, and Picidee, they also resemble both the latter in laying glossy white eggs, but in this respect they bear the same resemblance to the Momotidse, Alcedinidx, Meropidte, and some other groups, to which affinity has been claimed for them. In the opinion of Mr Sclater 2 the Jacamars form two groups one consisting of the single genus and species Jacamerops aureus (J. grandis of most authors), and the other including all the rest, namely, Urogalba with two species, Galbula with nine, Brachygalba with five, and Jacamaralcyon and Galbalcyrhynchus with one each. They are all rather small birds, the largest known being little over 10 inches in length, with sharply pointed bills, and the plumage in every case more or less resplendent with golden or bronze reflexions, but at the same time compara tively soft. Jacamaralcyon tridactyla differs from all the rest in possessing but three toes (as its name indicates) on each foot, the hallex being deficient. With the exception of Galbula melanogenia, which is found also in Central America and southern Mexico, all the Jacamars inhabit the tropical portions of South America eastward of the Andes, Galbula ruficauda, however, extending its range to the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. 3 Very little is known of the habits of any of the species. They are seen sitting motionless on trees, sometimes solitarily, at other times in companies, whence they suddenly dart off at any passing insect, catch it on the wing, and return to their perch. Of their nidification almost nothing has been recorded, but the species above-mentioned as occurring in Tobago is said by Mr Kirk apparently the only European observer of the mode of propagation in these birds to make its nest in marl-banks, digging a hole about an inch and a half in diameter and some 18 inches deep. From the accounts 1 Galbula was first applied to Marcgrave s bird by Mcehring. It is another form of Galgulus, and seems to have been one of the many names of the Golden Oriole. See ICTERUS (vol. xii. p. 696). 2 A Monograph of the Jacamars and Puff-birds, 4to, London (in course of publication). 3 The singular appearance, recorded by Canon Tristram (Zoologist, p. 3906), of a bird of this species in Lincolnshire seems to require notice. No instance seems to be known of any Jacamar having been kept in confinement or brought to this country alive. The fact, if such it be, is therefore more difficult of explanation than the occur rence of Dr Plot s Toucan near Oxford. received by other travellers we may possibly infer that more of the Family possess the same habit. (A. N.) JACANA, 4 the Brazilian name, according to Marcgrave, of certain birds, since found to have some allies in other parts of the world, which are also very generally called by the same appellation. They have been most frequently classed with the Water-hens or Bails (Rallidse), but are now recognized by many systematists as forming a separate Family, Parridse, 5 whose leaning seems to be rather towards the Limicolse, as apparently first suggested by Blyth, a view which is supported by the osteological observations of Professor Parker (Proc. Zool. Society, 1863, p. 513), though denied by Professor A. Milne-Edwards (Ois. foss. de la France, ii. p. 110). The most obvious characteristic of this group of birds is the extraordinary length of their toes and claws (the latter being turned upwards), whereby they are enabled to walk with ease Jacana. over water-lilies and other aquatic plants growing in rivers and lakes. It is also remarkable for the carpal spurs with which its members are armed. The Family has been divided into four genera, of which Parra, as now restricted, inhabits South America ; Metopidius, hardly differing from it, has representatives in Africa, Madagascar, and the Indian Region ; Hydralector, also very nearly allied to Parra, belongs to the northern portion of the Australian Region ; and Hydrophasianus, the most extravagant form of the whole, is found in India, Ceylon, and China the draughts men of the country last named making it a favourite subject of their pictures, in which its flowing tail and the very peculiar filamentous appendages to the tip of its first and fourth primaries are generally faithfully represented. In habits the Jacanas have much in common with the Water- hens, but that fact is insufficient to warrant the affinity asserted to exist between the two groups ; for in their osteological structure, as already implied, there is much difference, and the resemblance seems to be only that of analogy. The Parridse, or at least such of them as have been sufficiently observed, lay very peculiar eggs, of a ricli olive-brown colour, in most cases closely marked with dark lines, thus presenting an appearance by which they may be readily known from those of any other birds, though an approach to it is occasionally to be noticed in those of certain Limicolse, and especially of certain Charadriidx. The genus Palamedea, consisting of the bird very commonly 4 In pronunciation the c is soft, and the accent placed on the last syllable. 8 The classic Parra is by some authors thought to have been the Golden Oriole (cf. ICTERUS), while others suppose it was a Jay or Pie. The word seems to have been imported into Ornithology by Aldro- vandus, but the reason which prompted Linna;us to apply it, as he seems first to have done, to a bird of this group, cannot be satis factorily stated.