172 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 
species, which like the last fs a yellow shield, but 
bordered with red and the bare portions of the tibiz 
crimson; hence the name: and the Red-fronted 
Coot, F. leucopyga, with beak and shield scarlet. 
Altogether the Family Rallide counts thirteen 
species in Argentina: eight Rails and Crakes, two 
Waterhens, and three Coots. 
ARGENTINE COURLAN 
Aramus scolopaceus 
Above brown; forehead, lores, and chin greyish white; neck 
striped with white ; beneath similar; bill brown; legs greenish grey ; 
length 24, wing 13 inches. Female similar. 
THIS curious bird has a blackish-brown plumage, 
glossed with bronze on the upper parts; its total 
length is about two feet and a half, and the wings, 
when spread, measure nearly four feet from tip to 
tip. It has been called ‘‘ an abnormal relative of the 
Rails at most,” and in its peculiar flight and many 
of its habits certainly differs very widely from the 
Rails. It has but one known relative, the Giant 
Courlan of northern South America, a rare species 
about whose habits little is known, 
The beak of this bird is nearly five inches long, 
straight, and of an iron hardness ; the tip is slightly 
bent to one side, the lower mandible somewhat more 
than the upper. The tongue extends to the extremity 
