2230 THE BUSTARDS, THICKNESS, AND CRANES 



with a shorter crest on the neck. Burmeister's seriema (Chunga burmeisteri) , from 

 Argentina, now generally considered to represent a distinct genus, is smaller and 

 browner, with scarcely any tuft at the base of the back. 



The most remarkable feature about the Brazilian seriema is its resemblance, as 

 regards form, carriage, and the coloration of the plumage, to the secretary vulture, 

 with which, as already mentioned, it has been associated by some ornithologists. If 

 we are right in placing the bird in its present serial position, and associating the 

 secretary vulture with the Accipitrines, it is almost impossible to account for this 

 resemblance in any satisfactory way; the circumstance that the two birds are in- 

 habitants of widely-separated continents, putting mimicry out of the question. 

 These birds are found in open districts in the interior of Brazil, where the ground 

 is either clad with grass, or dotted over with low vegetation; and are generally 

 found in pairs, or, during the breeding s eason, in family parties of three or four. 

 The coloration of the plumage harmonizes well with that of the soil of the grassless 

 districts. Mainly diurnal in its habits, the seriema often reveals its presence by its 

 peculiar cry, which has been compared to the bark of a dog, and is most generally 

 uttered in the early morning. In spite of being such an essentially cursorial bird, 

 at night the seriema roosts on the bough of some tree. Its food consists chiefly of 

 snakes, lizards, etc. , on which account the bird is strictly protected by the Brazil- 

 ians; and in this respect we may notice another resemblance to the secretary vul- 

 ture. Young rats, mice, worms, etc. , also form a portion of the diet. During the 

 pairing time, which takes place in February, the males attract the females by a dis- 

 play analogous to that noticed under the head of the bustards. The nest of twigs 

 is built in a low or moderately-tall tree, and at the proper season contains a pair of 

 pale-colored eggs sparingly blotched with rusty red. The down-clad young remain, 

 it is said, a few days in the nest before they are carried down by their parents. 

 Seriemas have laid in the London Zoological Gardens, and in two instances a 

 young bird has been hatched, but in both the offspring has been devoured by its 

 parent. 



THE TRUMPETERS 

 Family 



The trumpeters (Psophia), although less aberrant than the seriemas, form an- 

 other South- American family of somewhat doubtful affinity, which may be best 

 placed here, as apparently connecting the seriemas with the cranes. While agreeing 

 with the two preceding families in having oval (holorhinal) nasal apertures in the 

 skull, they differ from both in that the breastbone has no notch, while there are 

 long tracts devoid of plumage on the sides of the neck, the number of toes being 

 four. In appearance, these birds, of which there are several species, may be likened 

 to large, long-legged, blackish guinea fowls, the head and beak being strikingly 

 fowl-like. In these birds the body is stout, the neck of moderate length, the head 



