Dr. G. Hartlaub on a new Form of Grallatorial Bird. 451 



On a New Form of Grallatorial Bird nearly allied 

 to the Cariama (Dicholophus cristatus). By Dr. G. 

 Hartlaub, Foreign Member. 



Professor II. Burmeister of Halle, who has lately returned to 

 Europe after an absence of about three years in the southern portion 

 of South America, has communicated to me the following notice of 

 a new species of Grallatorial Bird, very nearly allied to the Cariama;, 

 which he met with in the woody parts of the Argentine Republic, and 

 which I have the pleasure to name after him Dicholophus Burmeisteri. 



This discovery is the more important and interesting, inasmuch 

 as the Cariama has, until now, remained rather an isolated type, 

 widely separated from even its nearest relatives. 



The Chung a, as this bird is called by the Spanish inhabitants of 

 the Republic, seems to differ subgenerically from Dicholophus in the 

 following points : — The lores are equally and thickly plumose ; there 

 is no conspicuous frontal crest ; the tail is comparatively longer, and 

 the tarsus comparatively shorter ; the nails are nearly uniform on all 

 the toes, and are stronger, larger, and more curved than in theCariama. 

 A very important difference, perhaps the most important, consists in 

 the totally different habits of the more northern representative. Pro- 

 fessor Burmeister proposes for it a subgeneric division, under the name 

 of Chung a. 



The Chunga is a large bird, of about 29 inches in length ; 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, 

 attached to its master. Professor Burmeister saw two of them on a 

 farm, which were of the size of an CEdicnemus, and still bore their 

 downy plumage. They were fed upon little morsels of beef, but 

 rejected larger pieces, as well as the entrails of fowls. They delighted 

 in collecting bones, which they were in the habit of striking upon a 

 stone and breaking to pieces. During the day they stalked gravely 

 about, visited the house, jumped upon the tables and chairs, always 

 collecting food, and slept at night at certain elevated stations, for in- 

 stance on the projecting roof of the verandah. Professor Burmeister 

 obtained a living bird at Catamarca, and observed it for some length 

 of time. He saw it for the first time at the foot of the Sierra de 

 Aronguiga, where it ran very quickly and shyly over the road and 

 disappeared in the forest. In its wild state it is very difficult to kill ; 

 therefore it is preferable to search for the nest, and bring up the 

 young birds by hand. The cry of this bird is heard very frequently 

 in the district where it is found ; it resembles that of the Dicho- 

 lophus cristatus, and sounds like the bark of a young dog, but not 

 quite so loud. The internal structure is quite the same as that of 

 Dicholophus. 



Dicholophus Burmeisteri, Hartlaub. 



Statura et ptilosi ut in D. cristato; crista frontali vix ulla. 



