494 CEYPTURI. 



Order XX. CRYPTURI. 



Tinamous have a superficial resemblance to Partridges. Their 

 bill, usually elongated, is as long as, or shorter than, the head ; the 

 culmen is nearly straight or slightly curved, flattened and covered 

 at the base with a membrane or cere, which also envelops the 

 nasal grooves ; the nostrils are large, basal, or even open in the 

 anterior half of the bill ; the wings short, concave, rounded, and 

 quinto-cubital ; the tail short, constantly pendent, and generally 

 hidden by the upper tail-coverts ; tarsi moderate and shielded in 

 front, or entirely covered with hexagonal scales ; the toes are mostly 

 four, but sometimes only three ; when present, the hind toe is 

 articulated higher than the anterior ones. Powder-down patches 

 are present among the feathers, and these in some have aftershafts. 



Tinamous have a small head and slender neck, clothed with very 

 short feathers ; the plumage is generally inconspicuous ; some tint 

 of brown, ranging from rufous to slaty, and often more or less 

 closely barred with a darker shade of black, or even with pale buff, 

 is the prevailing coloration. 



The newly hatched chicks, nidifugous or prcfcoces, are covered 

 with down, and more or less closely resemble the young of some of 

 the Ratitcp.. 



The male takes on himself the duty of incubation. 



The eggs are very remarkable, curiously unlike those of other 

 birds, and the shell looks like highly burnished metal or glazed 

 porcelain, presenting also various colours, which seem to be constant 

 in the particular species, ranging from pale primrose to sage-green 

 or light indigo, or from chocolate-brown to pinkish orange. 



Tinamous are peculiar to the Neotropical Eegion, a few species 

 only finding their way into Mexico, and none beyond. Some of 

 them inhabit forests and others the more open country or the rocky 

 mountains ; but, irrespective of size (which in this group varies 

 from that of a quail to that of a large common fowl), there is an 

 unmistakable uniformity of appearance among them as a whole. 

 (^A. Newton.) 



The aflinities of the Tinamous have been much discussed. 



Illiger in 1811 remarked the likeness of the Tinamou's bill to 

 that of Rhea. On the other hand, L'Herminier in 1827 saw 

 features in the Tinamou's sternum that in his judgment linked the 

 birds to the RaUicla'. In 1830 Wagler (Nat. Syst. Amphib. &c. 

 p. 127) placed the Tinamous in the same order as the Ostrich and 

 its allies. In 1862 the close afiinity of these groups was demon- 

 strated by Prof. Parker's researches (Trans. Zool. Soc. v. pp. 205- 

 232,236-328, pis. xxxix.-sli. ; Phil. Trans. 1866, pp. 174-178, 

 pi. XV.). Shortly after this Prof. Huxley (P. Z. S. 1867, pp. 425, 

 426) was enabled to place the whole matter in a clear light, urging 



