476 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. i04 



This tinamou is much less active than the Crypturellus noctivagus; 

 when approached it crouches motionless and does not move for con- 

 siderable time thereafter. (See notes under Crypturellus noctivagus.) 

 Also, it appears to travel singly or at most, in pairs, rather than in 

 loose groups. Due to the difficulty in securing it, the bird is not 

 hunted, although it is occasionally trapped. 



The captive bu*d had the cm-ious habit of rapidly raising and 

 lowering the upper-tail coverts. This might be a sign of excitement 

 or fear, or perhaps part of the mating ritual, as it was observed 

 particularly in May, 



The two sets of two eggs each are apparently full clutches, judging 

 by information obtained from local farmers and hunters. In this 

 connection it was observed that, upon preparation of the skin of the 

 captive female, the specimen had absolutely no brood patch, although 

 the gonads were somewhat enlarged. 



Crypturellus noctivagus (Wied) 



Tinavius noctivagus Wied, Reise Nach Brasilien in den Jaliern 1815-17, vol. 1, 

 1820, p. IGO, note (Muribecca, Espfrito Santo [Brazil].) 



Two races of this tinamou were collected, one at Caicara and the 

 other at Cantaura. The specimens are listed separately by sub- 

 specific allocation, but our discussion of the two is united below, 



Crypturellus noctivagus spencei (Brabourne and Chubb) 



Crypturits cinnamomeus spencei Brabourne and Chubb, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist,, 

 ser. 8, vol. 14, 1914, pp. 320, 322 (Venezuela; restricted type locality, Cara- 

 cas). 

 5 cf, 1 ? , Cantaura, May 15- June 12, 1950. 

 2 chicks, Cantaura, July 29, 1951. 



Crypturellus noctivagus erythropus (Pelzeln) 



Tinamus erythropus Pelzeln, Verh. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, vol. 13, 1863, pp. 1127, 

 1129 (Barra do Rio Negro = Mand,os, Brazil). 

 2 cf, 2 9, Caicara, March 19-June 6, 1950. 

 1 set of 6 eggs, Caicara, May 3, 1951. 



In our 1950 paper the Cantaura birds were considered as eastern 

 extremes of idoneus. The problems raised in our discussion were 

 subsequently studied with ampler material by Wetmore and Phelps 

 (1950, pp. 115-116), who revived the name spencei for this eastern 

 population. Our subsequent material, listed above, was used by 

 Wetmore and Phelps and, in fact, was collected for this express pur- 

 pose. We are in full accord with their conclusions. 



The six specimens of spencei taken from May 15 to June 12 were 

 all in breeding condition, the female taken on June 12 even had a 

 fully formed but still shell-less egg in the oviduct. 



