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AVES 



lated; and they can only be subdivided upon characters of trivial import, drawn from some of 

 the appendages of the head. In order to avoid, however, an excessive multiplication of 

 groups, we associate with them certain genera the toes of which have no connecting membrane, 

 and one (that of the Pigeons) which links the Poultry with the Passerinae, the others (such as 

 the Hoazin) presenting a slight approach to the Touracos ; [very slight and superficial in both 

 instances]. 



The Curassows {Alector, Merrem) — 

 Are large Poultry-birds of South America, which somewhat resemble Turkeys, and have a broad and 

 rounded tail, composed of large stiff quills, [fourteen in number]. Several of them possess a singular 

 conformation of the trachea. They live in the woods, feed on buds and fruit, perch and nestle upon 

 trees, [their hind-toe being on the same plane with those in front], and are very sociable and easily 

 domesticated. [The sternum has its inner emargination less deep than in other Poultry]. Gmelin 

 and Latham have divided them into Curassows and Guans, but upon very indeterminate characters. 

 We subdivide them in the following manner: — 



The Curassows, properly so called, (Crax, Lin.), — 



Have a strong beak, its base surrounded by a skin, sometimes brightly coloured, in which the nostrils 

 are pierced; and their head ^ adorned with a crest of long, credible, narrow feathers, curled at the 

 tips. Their size is that of a Turkey, and like the members of that genus they fly up into trees. They 

 are bred in a domestic state in America, and individuals have been received from that country so 

 variously coloured, that we hesitate about characterizing the species. 



The most common, or the Yellow-billed Cu- 



•• 





rassow(C/\ alector, Lin.), is black, with a white 

 belly, and cere of the beak brilliant yellow. The 

 trachea makes but one slight curve before it 

 enters the breast. Some, as Cr. globicera, Lin., 

 have a larger or smaller globular tubercle at the 

 base of the beak. 



The Pauxi (Ourax, Cuv.) — 

 Have a shorter and thicker bill, and the 

 membrane at its base, as well as the greater 

 part of their head, is covered with short 

 dense plumage resembling velvet. 



The most common of them, or the Galeated 

 l'auxi (Cr. paiixi, Lin.), has an oval tubercle at 

 the base of the beak, of a light blue colour and 

 stony hardness, almost as large as the head. This 

 bird is black, with the lower part of the belly, and 

 tip of tail, white. It nestles on the ground, and 

 its native country is not known with precision. 

 The trachea descends on the right side beneath the skin to behind the sternum, where it turns to the left, and 

 ascends to enter the thorax through the fourchette : its rinsrs are all compressed. Another species (Cr. galeata, 

 I.ath. ; Cr. tomentosa, Spix), has a red salient crest on the beak, instead of the tubercle. 



The Guans {Penelope, Merrem) — 

 Have a more slender beak than the others, and the space around the eyes naked, as is also the throat, 

 which is mostly susceptible of inflation. 



So many varieties of colour are found among them, that it is difficult to trace the limits of the various species. 

 Those especially which have a crest, are extremely variable. [The size is in general much less than in the others, 

 and form more slender : the naked parts are often beautifully coloured]. The trachea, at least in the crested 

 species, descends under the skin far behind the posterior edge of the sternum, ascends, is again flexed, and then 

 continues its course towards the fourchette, through which, as usual, it gains access to the lungs. In one crestlcss 

 species (Pen. marail, Tem.), greenish-black, with a fulvous belly, (which appears very distinct,) the trachea forms 

 in both sexes a curve at the upper part of the sternum, before it enters the lungs. 



The Parraquas (Ortalida, Merrem) — 

 Merely differ from the Guans in having no naked skin about the head. 

 One species only is known, of a bronzed brown above, whitish gray beneath, and rufous on the head, (the Ca- 



Fig. 10S.— The Yellow-billed Curassow. 



