CRANES. 121 



schizorhinal, although not quite typically desmognathous cither. He says that in Cari- 

 ama the internasal septum is ossified to a very slight extent, and the maxillo-palatine 

 processes may meet in the middle line, in both of which respects it approaches the 

 birds of prey ; but the ossified part of the nasal septum does not unite below with 

 the maxillo-palatines, in this respect being unlike the Raptorial birds. 



Two genera, each consisting of one species, are known, viz., Chunga burmeisteri, 

 from the Argentine Republic, and Cariama cristata, the species figured, from Brazil. 

 An interesting difference between the two closely allied genera is the variation 

 in the myological formula of the legs, the latter being expressed by BXY, while B 

 is absent in Chunga. We may add that BXY is the normal formula of the 

 cranes and bustards. Both have a curious crest of frontal plumes, that of the 

 figured species being the longest. The coloration of this species is of a sandy brown 

 above, sandy buff beneath, finely vermiculated with fulvous and blackish, and with 

 a white terminal band on the tail. The orbits are bare and blue, eye yellow, bill 

 cinnabar-red. 



The seriema is a large bird, about the size of the great blue heron, and of a very 

 striking appearance, not the least so on account of the curious frontal crest. In some 

 of the Brazilian campos it is common, and its penetrating, though not unpleasant 

 voice, may be heard close to the inhabited places several houi's even before sunrise. 

 It is protected by the law, and a fine is imposed upon anybody killing the bird, which 

 is thought to destroy a good many snakes. Prof. Reinhardt, however, denies this, 

 and says that he only found insects and seeds in the stomach. The chunga, as the 

 other species is called by the Spanish inhabitants of the Argentine Republic, is 

 smaller and more ash-colored, witli black bill, and the lores are densely feathered. 

 Dr. Hartlaub, when describing it, gave the following accounts of its habits, from the 

 notes furnished by its discoverer, Prof. Burmeister, after whom it was named : - 



"It is found in the wooded districts of the province of Tucuman and Catamarca; 

 it nests on the ground. Its eggs are white, slightly spotted with rufous. It feeds 

 upon insects, and more especially upon locusts. The young have a rufous dress, 

 thickly undulated with black ; they very soon begin to take care of themselves. 

 The chunga is easily domesticated, and seems, even after a few days of captivity, at- 

 tached to its master. In its Avild state it is very difficult to kill, therefore it is pref- 

 erable to search for the nest, and bring up the young birds by hand. The cry of the 

 bird is heard very frequently in the district where it is found, and sounds like the 

 bark of a young dog, but not quite so loud." 



The apparent broad gap between the cranes and rails, which had led many to re- 

 gard them as separate ' sub-orders,' broke down when it was shown that Aramus, the 

 limpkin, according to its anatomical characters, belongs to the cranes and not to the 

 rails, where it before had been universally placed. We therefore do not hesitate to 

 unite them in the super-family GRUIOIDE^E, notwithstanding the holorhinal char- 

 acter of the rails. In this case the latter character does not seem to me to be of a 

 fundamental nature, since if the Ocydromina?, Avhich unquestionably are rails, really 

 are holorhinal, as Garrod asserts, they come as near being schizorhinal as any holo- 

 rhinal bird can, judging from photographs of the skeleton, of which a reproduction 

 maybe found further on (Fig. 60, p. 128). This super-family corresponds with the 

 usually so-called ' order ' Alectorides, a most unfortunate name, however, since its 

 original inventor made it to include the pratincole, the ccreopsis, the seriema, the 

 screamers, and the trumpeter, the last being the only germs belonging to it as it is now 



