CRACIDjE — PENELOPIN.E: GUANS. 721 



Family CRACID^: Curassows, Guans, etc. 



This type is peculiar to America, where it may be considered to represent Megapodidce, 

 though differing so much in habit and general appearance. The affinities of the two have been 

 indicated, and some essential characters noted ; they are contrasted by Beddard in the char- 

 acters of the shorter hind toe, tufted dil-gland, two carotids, generally coiled trachea and 

 absence of biceps slip, in Cracidce. According to latest authorities on the family, it is divisible 

 into three subfamilies: Craeina;, Curassows and Hoccos, with 4 genera, Crax, Nothocrax, 

 Mitua, and Pauxis, whereof the first named has 10 species, the second one, the third three, 

 and the fourth one, or 15 altogether; Oreophasince, with a single genus and species, Oreophasis 

 derbianus, and the 



Subfamily PENELOPIN/E : Cuans, 

 with 6 or 7 genera and many species, one of wliich reaches our border. None of the Penelo- 

 pime are helmeted, or have other hard outgrowths or curly feiithers on the head, but they are 

 mostly wattled, with more or less of the throat bare ; in all, the inner web of the 1st primary is 

 more or less emarginate. Extralimitul genera are Penelope, Penelopina, Pipile, Ahurria, and 

 Chanucpctes. 



OU'TALIS. (Gr. opraXis, ortalis, a pullet.) GuANS. Head crested; its sides, and strips 

 on chin, naked, but no median wattle. Tarsi naked, scutellate before and behind, with small 

 scales between the scutellar rows. Hind toe insistent, about ^ the middle toe. Tail o-radu- 

 ated, ample, fan-shaped, longer than the much rounded wings, of 12 broad, obtuse feathers. 

 Wings short, concavo-conve.^, with abbreviated outer primaries ; .secondaries reaching about 

 to ends of longest primaries when the wing is folded. Bill slender for a gallinaceous bird, 

 without decided frontal antiae. Coloration greenisli. Sexes alike. In some points of size, 

 shape, and general aspect, there. is a curious superficial resemblance between this genus and 

 Geococci/x, though the two genera belong to different orders of birds. 



O. ve'tula inacoal'li. (Lat. vetula, a little old woman. To Geo. A. McCall.) Tf..\.\.n 

 GuAN. CllACHALACA. Dark glossy olivaceous, paler and tinged with brownish-yellow be- 

 low, plumbeous on head ; tail lustrous green, tipped witli grayi,sli-white except on middle pair 

 (if feathers; bill and feet plumbeous; iris brown. Length 22.00-24.00 ; extent 24.00-28.00 ; 

 wing 7.50-9.00 ; tail 9.00-11.00 ; tarsus 2.00 or more ; middle toe and claw about the same. 

 9 similar. Downy young : Above, mixed brown, ashy and tawny, with a black central stripe 

 from l)ill to tail ; below white, ashy on jugulum. Mexico to Texas in the Lower Kio Grande 

 Valley, abounding in some localities. A notable bird, unlike anything else in this country. 

 Easily domesticated, said to be used as a game fowl. Very noisy in the breeding season, 

 April-June, reiterating the syllables cha-cha-lac in a loud hoarse tone. Nest in bushes, a 

 slight structuie ; eggs 3-4, rarely 5, with a thick, granular, and very hard shell, like a Guinea 

 Fowl's, obl(jng-oval, buff-colored or creamy-wliite, large for the bird, averaging 2.85 X l.(>5. 



Suborder ALECTOROPODES : True Fowls. 



{Suborder Piiasiani, A. 0. U.) 



Tlie birds of this suborder are more or less perfectly terrestrial; legs of mean length, and 

 stout ; toes 4, 3 in front, generally ccmuccted by basal webbing but sometimes free, and one 

 behind, alw;iys short and elevated. Tibife rarely naked below; tarsi often featliered, as the 

 toes also sometimes are ; but ordinarily both these are naked, scutellate and reticulate, ami 

 often deveh)ping processes (spurs) of horny substance with a bony core, like liorns of cattle. 

 Bill as a rule short, stout, convex, obtu.se; never cered, nor extensively membranous; the base 

 (if culmcn jiarts prominent antiae, which frequently fill the na.sal foss«> ; when naked the nos- 

 tiils siiow a superincumbent .scale. The head is frequently naked, wholly or partly, and often 



