56 THE STORY OF THE BIRDS 



contains no surviving representatives, and to 

 this number we can with equal propriety add 

 another, thus bringing the number of groups, or, 

 as we will call them, Orders, up to six. These 

 are the Immanes or Moas, and the ^Epyornithes 

 or Rocs, both of which are extinct (confer pre- 

 ceding chapter, p. 10) ; the Rheae or Rheas, the 

 Megistanes or Cassowaries and Emus, the 

 Apteryges or Kiwis, and the Struthiones or 

 Ostriches. It is difficult to say which of these 

 orders is the most highly specialised, for each 

 exhibits characters which might place it in that 

 position according to the value we may attach 

 to them. This, however, is a matter beyond 

 the province of the present chapter, and we 

 must pass on to a consideration of the chief 

 groups of Carinate birds. 



First of these, and, as was suggested by 

 Huxley, a connecting link between the Ratitae 

 and the Carinatae, we have that small but very 

 distinct order the Crypturi or Tinamous. They 

 number just upon eighty species, and have their 

 home in the forests and on the open plains 

 of the Neotropical region. Tinamous are com- 

 paratively small birds, ranging from the size 

 of a Quail up to that of a domestic Fowl, and 

 somewhat closely resemble a Partridge in form 



