SOME OF THE OUTLIERS AMONG BIRDS. 



767 



cranes, we meet with some very remarkable birds forms that at- 

 tract the attention of anatomists and ornithologists all over the 

 world. Some of these birds are as yet but very imperfectly known 

 either in the matter of their habits or their morphology. Con- 

 spicuous among these stand the trumpeters {Psophia) of South 

 America, of which some seven species have been described (see 

 Fig. 2), and all referred to the family Psophiidc2. They get their 

 name from the loud and peculiar note they utter a power asso- 

 ciated with the singular structure of the windpipe in the male. 

 Psophia appears to be related to the fowls, the rails, and the 



F)o. 3. The Sun Bitteiin (Eurijpijga helius). By the author, after Newton. 



cranes, and may be a subspecialized descendant of an ancient gen- 

 eralized group, to which the last two may also be traced back. 

 The species vary in size and color, the best-known form being P. 

 crepitans of Guiana, which is the " oiseau irompette " of the 

 French and the " trompeiero " of the Spaniards. Big as a small 

 turkey in body, it has longer legs and neck and a beautiful plum- 

 age, and even its legs are said to be of a " bright pea green." 



These birds are noted for forming in captivity the strongest 

 attachment to man as well as to the domesticated fowls and ani- 

 mals of the barnyard. Some remarkable stories are told by trav- 

 elers and others in this connection. Although these birds have 



