jro.uce. FEATUEU-TRACTS OF GUOVHE AND QL'AIL— CLARK. 6ol 



CRACTDyE. 



ThiH family i>» al«o reprefterited in th<i Uuite^l .States by a single genus. 



ORTALIS. 

 f Plate XLIX.; 



>Iat«rtal exumiu&l: Vive «j»*cim*:nh from Browiwville, Texa«, kindly (ntri'iHlif-A 

 by Ml. frank IJ. Arrn»troiiK. 



The general pterylosis flitters rj^^nsiderably from thsit of tlie ;^ioii-e 

 or rjuai). and thes<; peculiarities uill be seen on examination of tlie 

 jilate. There are large apteria on the cheeks and chin, and the lat- 

 eral neirk v-irdtif.!*, are very short. The sternals are long and narrow, 

 wTiile the ventral tra<;t fViims a long, slender, hollow triangle, with the 

 ai>ex forward and the base in front of the anus. 1'he femoral tracts 

 are entirely fused with the i>osterior jiar-t of the dorsal, and the latter 

 10 hot sei*arated from the upper cervical. On the wing there are only 

 two rows (>i major secondary coverts, but the other coverts are numer- 

 ous and rathei ir regularly scattered. The alula f;/>nsists of five feathers 

 and there is a prominent claw on the thumb. There are no down 

 feathers, the aftershafts are small, the liloplurnes short, anrl the tuft on 

 the ojI gland is very small. The legs are feathered down Just over the 

 tarsal joint In front. iiitctvU'^H 12, long, the middle pair longest. 

 Hec^iudaries lo. Primaries 10, but the outer ones are very short, giv- 

 ing a formula very difterent from our other Gallin;!-. 2.U')(i, 1, 7, 8, 9, 

 10. In mo«t of thewi particulars Orf.aliff agrees with the genera, Crax 

 and I'endope as dew^ribed by Nitzwdj, but there nuitni to be v^mia 

 important ditterences, particularly in the ventral truct. The lower 

 part of the main shaft of the c^Mit^.»ur feathers is enlarged and iiatUuunl 

 as Nitz.rch describes in Crax. 



CONCLCHIOVft. 



In the light of the foregoing facts it may be i)OSsible for us to draw 

 some r;onclusioiis on the relationshii* of the genera, bat it must be con- 

 fessed we shall hardly be Justified in going much Ixjyond that. The 

 group is remar kably homr/gf^neous, at least as far as its North Ameri- 

 can repre«entative» are C4^>nf;erne<l, but it is probable that a careful 

 examination of the Kastern Phasianidfc, the South American Cracidie, 

 and the Australasian MitgajiOfiidje will bring to light greater diversity. 

 Our single representative of the Cracida; is obviously further from the 

 gallinine ty\Ki tlian any of our other Rpe^jies, and without further study of 

 the family it is impossible to draw any conclusions in regard to the 

 relationship of the guans to the other Gallina-. With the A lecteroi^ides, 

 however-, the case is different, and the relationship of the ditterent genera 

 in at least suggested by these investigations. The jiosition to be given 

 .Ueleofjrin is a rpiestion on which the work .«/> far done throws veiy little 

 light, but its relation is probably nearest to the I'hasianida;. 



The (lifiei'tm^ti betwe«in the groiuje and the r^uail are in part at leaMt 



