, ,, ^ ARAMUS SCOLOPA CE US. 



FAMILY II. ARAMIDiE. THE COURLANS. 



Bill, very long, slujhthj curved, and quite deephj grooved on basal third. Terminal 

 portion offurcula, not widened, nor joined to tip of keel ivhicli is not wide but high, grcatlg 

 exceeding the ividth of the sternum ivhich is narrow and without marginal inde7itations. 



Members of this family are of medium size, with rather h.iig legs and toes. The up- 

 per mandible is thick for nearly its entire length, but gradually curves downward toward 

 the tip; whereas the lower grows more slender for its terminal third, tapering gradually to 

 an acute point. The posterior margin of the sternum is indented with a single, central 

 scallop. 



GENUS I. ARAMUS. THR COURLANS. 

 The generic characters are as given under the Family Iieading, with the following additions. The oesophagus is not 

 wide, is without dilatation, and opens into a hvrge proventriculus provided with simple, oval glands arranged in a zonular 

 band. Tlie space between proventriculus and stomach is Icmg, curved, and lined with a soft membrane which lies in lon- 

 gitudinal folds. The stomach is rounded, flattened, very muscular, and lined with a hard, rugose membrane. The intes- 

 tines are not very long and the cceca are moderately well developed, with the blind ends dilated. The trachea is a little 

 widened at top, but t!ie remainder is rounded and about, the samesize for its entire length. Id is straight for 4 25, then 

 curves gradually around, passing upward for 1-55, turns quite suddenly downward for 100, bends upijn itself, laterally and 

 upward for '75, then curves down again fir TIS but passe:- upward in a final curve fjr 1-50, turns down and pursues its 

 usual course ti tlie larynx. Thus there are three distinct whorls of the treachea firming an ellipsis which measures about 

 1-80X l'3(i, wliile there are about 7 inclies of the trachea in the-^e convolutions which lie directly in the fork of the fuicu- 

 la. The entire length of the treachea is 20-50 and it is provided with lateral muscles which do not, however, follow the 

 bends of tlie treachea, but join together and cross them in an oblique line, then separate to form the sterno-treachealis a 

 little further down. These muscles are only 7 inches long. The larynx is flattened and provided with asmall bronchialis. 

 Tympaniform membrane, present. Sexes, similar. There is but one species within our limits. 



ARAMUS SCOLOPACEUS. 



Courlan. 



Aramus scolopaceus Bon, Am. Orn, III; 1828, III. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Sp. Cii. Form, slender. Size, medium. Tongue, very long, thin, slender, and narrowing gradually to tip which is 

 rounded. Head, large. 



Color. AduU. Dark chocolate-brown throughout, gU)ssed alx)ve with greenish. Throat, ashy, and all the feathers, 

 excepting on posterior portions, are centrally streaked with white. Iiis and legs brown. liill. brown, yellow at base of 

 lower mandible Youny. Similar, but much paler. Nest/inys. Are covered with black down. 



OBSERVATIONS. 

 Readily known by the peculiar form and chocolate-brown color streaked with white. Constantly resident in Middle 

 and Southern Florida. 



DIMENSIONS. 

 Average measurements ot specimens from Florida. Length, 27-00; stretch, 41-00; wing, 12-50; tail, 5-25; bill, 5-00; tar- 

 sus, 5-00. Longest specimen, 28-00; greatest extent of wing, 42-00; longest wing, 13-00; tail, 5 50; bill, 5-.S0; tai-sus, 5-50. 

 Shortest specimen, 2h-00; sm-allest extent of wing, 40-00; shorte.st wing, 12-00; tail, 600; bill, 4-50; tarsus, 4-50 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGOS. 

 Nests, placed in bushes, composed of sticks, weeds, and grass. Eygs, from ten to fifteen in number, rather elliptical 

 in form, ashy-yellow in color, lined, sprinkled, spotted and blotched irregularly with reddish-brown and umber. Dimen- 

 sions from 1-70x2-35 to 1-75x2-50. 



HABITS. 



I have spoken of the Sandhill Cranes as being noisy birds, but they are excelled in 

 this respect by the Courlans, whose long, oft-repeated notes ha\e given them the niime of 

 Crying Birds. They are also called Limpkins in Florida and are particuLirly abundant in 

 the marshes on either side of the St. John's, from Blue Spring to the mouth of the Wekiva, 



