1 84 



TINAMIFORMES 



As will be seen from the following examples, the general 

 coloration is rufous or slaty-brown, which may be relieved by 

 buff, or barred with blackish above and even below ; the under 

 parts being often greyer, with whitish throat and belly. The sexes 

 do not differ greatly, but the female is, if anything, the larger 

 bird. Some six forms occur in Mexico, while of the remainder 

 Tinamotis ingoiifi extends the range to Southern Patagonia. 



The genus Tinamus has ten members, T. tao, of South America 

 north of Bolivia and Brazil, being greyish-olive, with slaty breast 

 and buff abdomen, wavy blackish markings on both surfaces, black 

 primaries, black head and neck with white spots and bands on the 

 sides, and still whiter throat. Of the thirty or more species of 

 Crypturus, G. tataupa, extending from Peru and Bolivia to Brazil 

 and Argentina, is plain chestnut-brown, with blackish crown, 

 grey cheeks, neck, and breast, whitish throat and belly, huffish 

 flanks with lilack crescentic bars, red beak, and pinkish feet. 



It haunts dense under- 

 growth in forests, even 

 near habitations, and 

 frequently sits bent for- 

 ward with its " tail " ex- 

 panded over its back ; 

 its melody consists of 

 several notes at dimin- 

 ishing intervals, merg- 

 ing into a hurried trill, 

 which is terminated by 

 a reiterated sound like 

 "chororo"; its eggs are 

 of a reddish chocolate- 

 colour. Bhyncliotus 

 rufescens of the same 

 countries except Peru, 

 tlie " Perdiz grande " 

 of Argentina, which is 

 represented in Bolivia 

 by the similar R. maculicollis, is grey-browm, with blacker crown, 

 rufous cheeks, neck, and breast, and chestnut primaries ; the 

 back being barred with whitish and black, and the flanks 

 with brown and white. This somewhat solitary bird threads 



9U 



Fig. 42. — Great Tinaniou 



Rhi/nclwtus rufescens. 



