The present paper has been prepared with much care for two reasons: The first and most urgent is to clarify the taxonomic position of the genus itself, which has been a controversial one since it was placed under the synonomy of Rallicola in the 1952 Checklist of Mallophaga by Hopkins and Clay. The second reason is to describe additional material which has been collected by the author since the genus was established in 1944 and also to record its occurrence on two other families of birds, from one of which no Mallophaga have previously been taken..
It will be noted that the bird hosts, with very few exceptions, have all been collected and prepared by the author himself, which has given him an unprecedented opportunity to verify the hosts in question and to check on any cases of suspected straggling
