THE RAZOR-BILLED CURASSOWS. 215 



her wherever she went about the grounds. I found this kind 

 of Curassow bird was very common in the forests of the 

 Cupari ; but it is rare on the Upper Amazons. These birds 

 in their natural state never descend from the tops of the loftiest 

 trees, where they live in small flocks and build their nests. It 

 is difficult to find the reason why these superb birds have not 

 been reduced to domestication by the Indians, seeing that 

 they so readily become tame. The obstacle offered by their 

 not breeding in confinement, which is probably owing to their 

 arboreal habits, might, perhaps, be overcome by repeated 

 experiment ; but for this the Indians probably have not suf- 

 ficient patience or intelligence." 



Nest. — Built of sticks, &c.j and placed in a tree. 



Eggs. — Two in number, white, and rough-shelled. 



IL THE LESSER RAZOR-BILLED CURASSOW. MITUA TOMENTOSA. 



Crax tomeiitosa^ Spix, Av. Bras. ii. p. 49, pi. Ixiii. (1825). 

 Paitxi tomentosa^ Gray, Gen. B. iii. p. 487 (1846). 

 U7'ax fof/iefitosa, Burmeister, Syst. Uebers. iii. p. 349 (1856). 

 Mitua tomentosa, Sclater, Trans. Z. S. ix. p. 280, pi. Hi. (1875); 

 Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 486 (1893). 



Adult Male and Female. — General colour black glossed with 

 purplish-blue in the male, and with blue in the female ; belly, 

 under tail-coverts, outer part of thighs, and tips of tail-feathers 

 dark chestnut. Crest short. Upper mandible not much swollen. 



Male: Total length, 35 inches ; wing, 15; tail, 13-3 ; tarsus, 

 4-8 ; middle toe and claw, 3*8. 



Female: Somewhat smaller : wing, 14 inches. 



Range. — British Guiana, extending southwards along the Rio 

 Bianco and Rio Negro. 



in. SALVIN's RAZOR-BILLED CURASSOW. MITUA SALVINI. 



Mitua salvini, Reinhardt, ^^id. Medd. Nat. Forh. Kjobenhavn, 

 Jan. 8th, 1879, pp. 1-6 ; id. P. Z. S. 1879, p. 108 ; Sclater, 

 Trans. Z. S. x. p. 545, pi. xcv. (1S79). 



