BIRDS — ARAMIDAE — AR/IMUS GIGANTEUS. 



657 



Family AHA MID A E. 



The Aramidae of Bonaparte embrace a single genus, Aramus, which most authors place in 

 the lialUdae. 



ARAMUS, Vieill. 



Aramus, Vicill. Analyse, 1816. Type Ardta Kolopacea, Gm. (G. R. Gray.) 



Cil.— Bill elongated, much compressed, bolh mandibles docurvoJ at tip. Gonys very long. Bill of cijual width nearly from 

 base lo tip ; nostrils pervious, in the basal fourth of the bill. Head feathered to bill ; eyelids only naked. Legs Icngthoiicd ; 

 tibia half bare ; tarsus longer than middle toe ; toes without basal membrane ; outer lateral rather longer than inner ; middle 

 claw not pectinated. The tarsi arc broadly scutellate anteriorly. 



The wings are broad and rounded ; the tertials equal to the primaries. The first quill is 

 scarcely longer than the tenth, and subfalcate. The tail is composed of twelve feathers. 



Two species are at present known to naturalists, until recently supposed to be one. Cabanis 

 was the first to point out the difierences between them and to insist that they were distinct, and 

 not merely adult and young. 



ARAMUS GIGANTEUS, Baird. 



Carau; Crying Bird; Courlan. 



Rallusgigantt\is, Box. J. A. IS'. Sc. V, 1825, 31. 



Aramus scolopaceus, Bo.v. Am. Orn. Ill, 1828, 111 ; pi. x.xvi.— Ib. Conspectus, II, 1855, 104. (Young only.)— Ib. 

 Syn. 309.— NuTT.KLi,, .Man. II, 1834, 68.— Acd. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 543; not pi. 377, which is 

 A. scolopaceus.— Ib. Syn. 219.— Ib. Birds Amer. V, 1842, 181 ; not pi 312, which is .?. scolopaceus. 



Jiiotherodiua holostictus, Cabanis, Jour. IV, 1856, 426. 



Sp. Ch.— General color olive chocolate brown, each feather except the quills streaked centrally with white, as a lanceolate 

 Spot ; the colors becoming lighter towards the bill ; the chin and upper part of the throat whitish. The under tail coverts and 

 rump almost chocofete brown and unspotted. Length, 27.50 ; wing, 13 ; tarsus, 5.03 ; gape of bill, 5.28. 



Hab. — Florida and West Indies. 



With a general resemblance to the typical Aramus scolopaceus^ of Brazil, the species 



' Aramus ecOLOPACEns, Vieillot. 



Ardea scolopacea, Gmehs, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 647. 



Aramiu scolopaceus, Vieillot, Diet.- Ib. Gal. des Oia. II, 134 ; pi. 252 — Eonap. Consp. II, 1855, 103, adult, not the 



suppLScd young, nor of Am. Orn.— .\rD. Orn. Biog. IV ; pi. 377.— In. Birds Am. V ; pi. 312. — 



BcRMEisTER, Thicre Bras. II, 1856, 380. 

 Rallus ardeoides, Spix. Av. Bras. II, 72 ; pi. xci. 

 Rallus gigas, Licht. Verz. Doubl. 1823, 79. 

 Ji'olhtrodius guarauna, AVagler, Syst. Av. 1827. — Ib. Isis, 1829, vi. 



July 24, 1858. 



83 b 



