TINAMOUS. 



53 



some interesting sketches, from whicli tlie following concerning the present species is 

 selected : — 



This bird has no cover but the giant grasses, through which it pushes like a rail, 

 and wlicrevcr the country is settled it soon disappears. It is solitary in its habits, con- 



l^^^ 



'^m 



Fio. 22. — Itlii/ncliotus rufetcens, Perdiz graudc, 1' Yiiambu. 



ceals itself in the grass very closely, and flies with great reluctance. I doubt if there is 

 aifywhere a bird with such a souiuling tliglit as this ; and I can only compare the whirr 

 of its wings to the rattling of a liglit vehicle driven at great sjieed over a hard road. 

 From the moment it 



rises till it again 

 al ights, there is no 

 cessation in the rapid 

 viliralion of the wings; 

 but, like a ball thrown 

 by the hand, the bird 

 goes gradually sloping 

 towanls the earth, the 

 distance it is able to 



Fio. 23.— Pelvis of Tinamiu robiuliu : a, acetabulum ; il, 



p, |iubl«. 



acconi)ilish at a fli<;ht 



being from fifteen hiindrid to two thousand yards. This flight it can rej>cat, when 



driven up again, as manv as tbrei' times, after which the bird can rise n«> more. Tiie 



