172 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 



species, which like the last has a yellow shield, but 

 bordered with red and the bare portions of the tibiae 

 crimson ; hence the name : and the Red-fronted 

 Coot, F. leucopyga, with beak and shield scarlet. 



Altogether the Family Rallidae counts thirteen 

 species in Argentina : eight Rails and Crakes, two 

 Waterhens, and three Coots. 



ARGENTINE COURLAN 



Aramus scolopaceus 



Above brown ; forehead, lores, and chin greyish white ; neck 

 striped with white ; beneath similar ; bill brown ; legs greenish grey ; 

 length 24, wing 13 inches. Female similar. 



THIS curious bird has a blackish-brown plumage, 

 glossed with bronze on the upper parts ; its total 

 length is about two feet and a half, and the wings, 

 when spread, measure nearly four feet from tip to 

 tip. It has been called " an abnormal relative of the 

 Rails at most/' and in its peculiar flight and many 

 of its habits certainly differs very widely from the 

 Rails. It has but one known relative, the Giant 

 Courlan of northern South America, a rare species 

 about whose habits little is known. 



The beak of this bird is nearly five inches long, 

 straight, and of an iron hardness ; the tip is slightly 

 bent to one side, the lower mandible somewhat more 

 than the upper. The tongue extends to the extremity 



