CRAX. 271 
the posterior margin of the sternum. The bill is short and stout, the upper mandible 
being arched and overhanging the lower one. The hind toe is always present. The 
nestlings when hatched are covered with down, and are able to run a few hours 
afterwards. 
Suborder PERISTEROPODES. 
This Suborder comprises the Curassows, Penelopes, and Guans, all of which are 
strictly Neotropical, if we except Ortalis vetula, which extends north of the Rio 
Grande. Like the true Game-Birds, the Cracide have a schizognathous palate 
and schizorhinal nostrils, as well as a tufted oil-gland, but the inner notch of the 
sternum is less than half the length of the entire sternum, and a striking feature is 
the position of the hind toe or hallux, which is on the same level as the fore toes, 
its basal phalanx being as long as that of the third one. 
Fam. CRACIDA., 
The characters which distinguish this family are the same as those of the Suborder. 
The Cracide are peculiar to the New World, and are remarkable not only for the 
anatomical characters enumerated above, but for their manner of breeding. Instead 
of placing their nest on the ground, as is the usual custom with most Game-Birds, the 
Curassows and Guans build in trees and lay white eggs. 
Subfam. CRACI NA. 
Upper mandible higher than broad. 
CRAX. 
Craz, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 269 (1766); Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 474 (1898). 
The Curassows are characterized by their very short bill, the height of the upper 
mandible being greater than its width, and the feathers on the top of the head are 
semi-erect and curled at the extremity. In some species there is a swollen knob at 
the base of the culmen, with a pair of wattles at the base of the lower mandible. The 
tail-feathers are twelve in number. In this genus the females are different in colour 
from the males, the latter being almost alike in plumage. Eleven species have been 
recorded, only three of which are found in Central America, the others being peculiar 
to various districts of South America. 
1. Crax globicera. 
Crax globicera, Linn. Syst. Nat. 1. p. 270'; Scl. P.Z.S. 1860, p. 253°; Tr. Z.S8. ix. p. 274, t. 40 
(part.)°; Taylor, Ibis, 1860, p. 311*; Salv. Ibis, 1861, p. 143°; 1889, p. 378°; 1890, 
