268 TROPICAL WILD LIFE IN BRITISH GUIANA 



strange habits, apparently so wasteful of valuable energy. 



Pileated tinamou were to us an almost disembodied, al- 

 though omnipresent voice. Living as they did in the im- 

 penetrable secondgrowth, laced and bound up with the warp 

 and woof of razor-grass, we scarcely ever caught even a 

 glimpse of them, and the specimens we desired had to be 

 secured with quick snap shots, whose success was rather luck 

 than accurate shooting. 



They were much smaller than the big tinamou, and a 

 breeding male weighed only half a pound, and measured 

 235 mm. in length. The female was of the same weight, 

 but averaged larger, about 268 mm. The two favorite items 

 of diet were a nondescript, greenish seed, and another flat, 

 round and woody, with yellow flesh. The females showed 

 more of a rich chestnut color than their mates, whose feath- 

 ers poor wretches were usually worn from constant 

 setting. 



VARIEGATED TINAMOU 



Crypturus variegatus (Gmelin) 



The third member of this strange, terrestrial fraternity 

 lived altogether in the jungle, where it was almost as abun- 

 dant as the Great Tinamou. Its small size enabled it more 

 often to escape observation. Its voice was less often heard, 

 and it was the sweetest of all the tinamou. The first drawn- 

 out phrase was higher than the steady rolling of the large 

 bird, and this was followed by six or eight short, separate 

 trills, an ascending staccato, which ended suddenly on the 

 highest note. 



