CURASSOWS. 



233 



searching for fruit, which it eats whether ripe or unripe, and, as the day advances, 

 descends to the under-wood, where it remains scratching among the leaves. It is a very 

 handsome species, having the upper parts black, with blue reflections; a broad white 

 band across the middle of the tail; breast white, striped with black; throat, abdomen, 

 and thighs black; the bill yellow; a vertical, moderately-high helmet, composed of 

 bony tissues, upon the top of the head, is red, as are also the legs and feet. The female 

 is like the male, but smaller. 



Penelopince contains seven genera, Ortatts, Chumc^etes, Aburria, Pipile, Penelo- 

 pina, Penelope, and Stcgiwlcema. This sub-family contains among its species the 

 smallest of the Cracidae, and they range in total length from sixteen inches to twenty- 

 six inches, those of the least size belonging to the genus Ortalis. They are found 

 from southern Texas through Mexico, Central America, and South America to Para- 

 guay. They are graceful birds, with long tails and variegated plumage, with bare 

 skin on the throat or around the eyes, or both, and the heads decorated in certain 

 species with various kinds of crest. Like all of the Cracidaa they are forest birds, 

 dwelling much upon the trees, and descending to the ground in search of food. Ortalis 

 vetula has been procured in Texas, and has been remarked for its loud and peculiar 

 cry, w r hich in harshness and compass is fully equal to that of the Guinea fowl. At 

 sunrise the male, on descending from the tree where he has passed the night, mounts 

 upon some old log and commences his clear cry, which is taken up by the female, and 

 so one pair after another join in the chorus, until the whole Avoods ring with their 

 voices. After this morning song of praise has terminated, the birds separate to seek 

 their early meal. If surprised when thus occupied, they fly into the trees and salute 

 the intruder with many croaks. The seven or eight white eggs are deposited in a nest 

 on the ground at the root of a tree or side of a log, where a hole has been scratched 

 several inches deep. This is lined with leaves, and the eggs are always carefully cov- 

 ered when the hen goes away for the purpose of obtaining food. The 0. leucogastra 

 is abundant in parts of Central America, and makes its nest of twigs, in a low bush; 

 the young run as soon as freed from the shell, and, clinging to the branches of the 

 underwood, are very nimble and difficult to capture. 



The species of Chamcepetes have the throat feathered, the circlet of the eye and the 

 lores are, however, naked. It is said that C. unicolor, when flying in a downward direc- 

 tion, produces a loud rushing noise similar to the drumming sound of the snipe, when, 

 after rising to a great height, it descends towards the ground with great velocity on 

 stiffened wings. The single- species of the genus Aburria is a dark-green bird, with 

 copper reflections on its plumage, and is remarkable for the pendant wattle at the lower 

 part of the throat. It is a native of New Granada. The members of the four other 

 genera are rather large birds, the throat of most of the species being destitute of 

 feathers, and the skin dilatable ; the plumage is bright, or of a quasi-metallic col- 

 oring, and tails are long and ample. 



The last sub-family, Cracinas, contains the curassows, large, handsome birds, 

 dwellers in the thick forests, where they rest and roost upon the highest limbs of the 

 trees. There are four genera, Pauxis, Mitua, Nothocray, and Crax^ the various sec- 

 tions distinguished by certain characteristics, such as a bony helmet, swelling at the 

 highest point into a club shape, and rising over the base of the bill and forehead, but 

 no crest, seen in the first-named genus; a swelling of the base of the culinen, and a 

 short, feathery crest, witnessed in Mitua ; a bare loral space and straggling, thin crest, 

 extending; from the forehead down the back of the neck, of the single species of Notho- 



