27S CURASSOIVS. 



The curassows arc all of them polypjamous : some make a kind 

 of nest upon the ground, while others build in the fissures of rocks 

 or on the larger branches of trees — differences apparently attri- 

 butable to the nature of the localities in which they live. Their 

 nest is usually composed of boughs, occasionally of considerable 

 size, interwoven with stalks of grass, and lined internally with 

 dried leaves. 



Sub-Family I. 

 THE GUANS. PEXELOPINyE. 



Genkral Characteristics. — Kill moderate, weak, .slender, longer than high, with 

 the ciihnen at the base straight, and tlien vaulted to the tip ; the nostrils large, 

 covered with a membrane, and the opening large, anterior, and ovate ; the sides of 

 the head and throat more or less naked. 



These birds are only found in the warm parts of South America. 

 They are generally seen in forests on trees, near the tops of which 

 they reside during the heat of the day ; but in the cool of the 

 morning and evening they are busily engaged in searching for 

 fruits and insects. Their flight is heavy, and performed with diffi- 

 culty, owing to the shortness of their wings. They build their 

 nests on the summits of trees : the female lays from two to five 

 eggs. The note of some of them resembles the syllable "/z" — 

 uttered in a sharp tone, and so loud, that when numbers are col- 

 lected near the same spot, they make the woods resound with their 

 clamorous cries. 



In certain .species the windpipe makes one, two, or even three 

 deep folds between the skin and the muscles of the breast before 

 passing into the cavity of the chest. Berries and various sorts of 

 grain constitute their principal food, and they are remarkable for 

 their tamcness, which renders their domestication easy. 



" In many parts of South America," saj's Mr. Bennet, " these 

 birds have been long reclaimed ; and it is really surprising, con- 

 sidering the familiarity of their manners, and the facility with 

 which they appear to pass from a state of nature to that of domes- 

 tic fowls, that they have not yet been introduced into the poultry- 

 yards of Europe. That with proper treatment they would speedily 

 be habituated to the climate, we have no reason to doubt ; on the 

 contrary, numerous examples have shown that they thrive well 



