ARAMID.E: CO URL A NS. 849 



9.00; tarsus 9.50-10.50; bill aloug culnieu 5.00-<;.00, its depth at base 1.00; middle toe 3.50. 

 This species has been said to Lick tracheal cunvulutious, which is uot true of the adult. The 

 trachea is at first simple aud straight, not entering sternum ; in the adult, about 8 inches of 

 windpipe is coiled away in the breast-bone, the anterior half of tlie keel of which is excavated 

 to receive the folds (fig. 100). The disposition is the same as in americana, but much less 

 extensive — 8 inches as against about 27 — a difference in degree, not of kind. Temperate 

 North America, rare or irregular in the East exc(-pt Florida and Georgia, abundant in the West 

 and some of South ; apparently breeds in sufficiently wild places throughout its range ; now 

 hardly on the Atlantic coast N. of Florida and Georgia. Eggs (2) cannot be distinguished from 

 those of G. aniericnna by color or texture of shell, or dimensions ; the specimens examined 

 average less capacious, and relatively more elongate, from 4.10 X 2.40 down to 3.05 X 2.10, 

 average near 3.90 X 2. GO ; but this series probably include eggs of canadensis. (G. canadensis 

 of most authors, apparently not of Linn. 1758; commonly confounded with the foregoing, and 

 by some formerly considered the young of G. americana: see Aud. folio pi. 261, 8vo, pi. 314. 

 Probably G. mexicana Briss. Orn. v, 1760, p. 380, and P. L. S. Muller, 1776, p. 110, but 

 this is not certain, though adopted by the A. 0. U. The earliest unequivocal name is G. pra- 

 tensis Bartr. 1791, p. 144 and p. 218, which I adopted in 2d-4th eds. of the Key, and now 

 relinquish with reluctance to my colleagues. G. poliophau Waol. 1827.) 



Family ARAMID^ : Courlans. 



Consisting of a single genus, with two species, of warmer ])ortions of America; closely 

 allied to Gruidce in essential points of structure, and forming a connecting link with BaUidce. 

 Osteological and pterylographic characters completely Crane-like ; digestive system as in Rails; 

 caeca 2, situate close together; oil-gland tufted; carotids 2; syringeal muscles one pair; 

 feinorocaudal absent (formula B X Y). Tlie general aspect and whole economy of these birds 

 are as in Rails ; the eggs are numerous. (A. 0. U. List places this family under the suborder 

 Balli.) 



A'RAMUS. (Etym. ignot.) Courlans. Bill twice as long as head, slender but strong, 

 compressed, both mandibles grooved for about § their length, contracted opposite nostrils, ter- 

 minal portion enlarged aud decurved. Nostrils long, linear, pervious. Head completely feath- 

 ered to bill ; tibise half bare ; tarsus scutellate anteriorly, as long as bill, longer than middle 

 toe; toes cleft, hinder short, elevated, outer longer than inner; wings short, rounded, with 

 falcate 1st primary clubbed at the end; inner quills folding over primaries when closed; tail 

 short, of 12 broad feathers. The extraliniital species is A. scolopaceus, smaller tluui ours, less 

 spotty above and less streaky below. 



A. gigan'teus. (Lat. giganteus, gigantic. The bird would be a giant if it were a Rail, but 

 is a pygniy among Cranes.) Greater Courlan or Courliri. CrviN(i-hiri». Cluck- 

 ING-HEN. Carau. Limpkin. Choctdate-brown with a slight (divaceou.s or other gloss, 

 paler on face, chin, and throat, most of the i>lumage sharply spotted «»r streaked witli white. 

 Downy young black, like the chicks of Rails. Length 24.00-28.00; extent 40.00-44. (K»; wing 

 12.00-14.00; tail 6.00-7.00; bill and tarsus, eadi, 3.50-5.00. Florida, some of the West 

 Indies, and S. to Central America. This remarkable bird lives in marshes like a Hail, and 

 is noted for its hoarse vociferati<m ; tlie nest is built on the ground or near it. in inassis of 

 reeds, grassy hummocks, or low thick bushes; the eggs are indefinitely numerous, like tliose 

 of some Rails, about a dozen, subelliptical, 2.30 X 1-70 on an averaee but varyinu' mncli, drab 

 or bufTy, s])otted and S[dashed with brown and neutral tints. Aramus pictus of 2d-4tli viU. of 

 the Key, after Tantalus pictus Bartr. 1791, the earliest and best name. liallus giganteus 

 Bp. 1825. Aramus scolopaceus, of authors, referring to the North American bird. Aramus 

 giganteus Ud. 18.18, and A. O. U. 1886-95. 



64 



