SERIEMA 827 
form came to be autoptically described scientifically. This was 
done by the elder Geoffroy-St. Hilaire (4nn. du Muséum, xiii. pp. 362- 
370, pl. 26), who had seen a specimen in the Lisbon museum ; and, 
though knowing it had already been received into scientific nomen- 
clature, he called it anew Microdactylus marcgravii. In 1811 Illiger, 
without having seen an example, renamed the genus Dicholophus— 
a term which has since been frequently applied to it—placing it in 
the curious congeries of forms having little affinity which he called 
Alectorides. In the course of his travels in Brazil (1815-17) Prince 
Max of Wied met with this bird, and in 1823 there appeared from 
his pen (NV. Act. Acad. L.-C. Nat. Curiosorum, xi. pt. 2, pp. 341-350, 
tab. xlv.) a very good contribution to its history, embellished by a 
faithful life-sized figure of its head. The same year Temminck 
figured it in the Planches Coloriées (No. 237). It is not easy to say 
when any example of the bird first came under the eyes of British 
ornithologists; but in the Zoological Proceedings for 1836 (pp. 
29-32) Martin described the visceral and osteological anatomy of 
one which had been received alive the preceding year.* 
The Seriema, owing to its long legs and neck, stands some two 
feet or more in height, and in menageries bears itself with a stately 
deportment. Its bright red beak, the bare greenish blue skin 
surrounding its large yellow eyes, and the tufts of elongated 
feathers springing vertically from its lores, give it a pleasing and 
animated expression; but its plumage is generally of an in- 
conspicuous ochreous-grey above and dull white beneath,—the 
feathers of the upper parts, which on the neck and throat are long 
and loose, being barred by fine zigzag markings of dark brown, 
while those of the lower parts are more or less striped. The wing- 
quills are brownish-black, banded with mottled white, and those of 
the tail, except the middle pair, which are wholly greyish-brown, 
are banded with mottled white at the base and the tip, but dark 
brown for the rest of their length. The legs arered. ‘The Seriema 
inhabits the campos or elevated open parts of Brazil, from the 
neighbourhood of Pernambuco to the Rio de la Plata, extending 
inland as far as Matto Grosso (long. 60°), and occurring also, though 
sparsely, in Paraguay. It lives in the high grass, running away in 
a stooping posture to avoid discovery on being approached, and 
taking flight only at the utmost need. Yet it builds its nest in 
thick bushes or trees at about a man’s height from the ground, 
therein laying two eggs, which Burmeister likened to those of 
the Land-Rail in colour.2. The young are hatched fully covered 
1 The skeleton has been briefly described and figured by Eyton (Osteol. 
Avium, p. 190, pls. 8, K, and 28 bis, fig. 1). 
2 This distinguished author twice cites the figure given by Thienemann 
(Fortpflanzungsgesch. gesammt. Vogel, pl. Ixxii. fig. 14) as though taken from 
a genuine specimen; but little that can be called Ralline in character is 
