382 RA SORES. 



SEVENTH FAMILY. TINAMOUS. 

 Tinamida, (genus Tinamus.) 



These birds include a very small number of species. They 

 inhabit the immense grassy plains of South America, and are 

 intermediate in form between the Partridges and Bustards, hav- 

 ing the long neck and legs of the latter, and the nostrils covered 

 with a naked scale, like the Pheasants. The beak varies in 

 length ; the wings are short, and the tail and hind toe rudimen- 

 tary or entirely wanting. In South America they appear to take 

 the place of the Partridges and Quails. Their appearance is 

 such that they have been said to represent "a Bustard in minia- 

 ture. '"' Swainson considers their flesh, " both in whiteness and 

 flavor, infinitely superior to that of the Partridge and the Pheas- 

 ant." The size of the Tinamous varies from that of a Pheasant 

 down to that of a Quail. 



The GREAT TINAMOU, Tinamus Braziliensis, is eighteen inches 

 long; it inhabits extensive forests. The general plumage is 

 grayish brown, inclining to olive, with a mixture of white under- 

 neath and on the sides, and greenish on the neck. The female 

 lays twelve or fifteen eggs, the size of those of a hen, and of a 

 beautiful green color, in a nest formed of moss and dried leaves, 

 and placed on the ground among the thick herbage near the 

 root of some large tree. 



The RUFESCENT TINAMOU, T. rvfescens, is the most beautiful 

 of the genus. It is fifteen inches and a half in length. It re- 

 sides among thick herbage, and feeds on it night and morning, 

 when it regularly utters its melancholy and feeble cry. The fe- 

 male deposits seven eggs of a fine bright violet color, in a hol- 

 low situated beneath tufts of grass. 



The ANDALUSIAW TURNIX, or HEMIPODE, Turnix lacliydromus, 

 {Gr. swift runner,) is found in Spain and the northern parts of 

 Africa. It is scarcely larger than a lark, of a yellowish brown 

 color above, spotted and barred with chestnut, black, and white : 

 the under parts yellowish white. It has three toes before, en- 

 tirely divided ; no hind toe ; hence its name HEMJPODE, (half- 

 footed.) 



What is the fourth order of Birds? What useful group does it include? 

 What characteristics are given to birds ot' this order? To what limits are 

 the POULTRY BiRDS chiefly confined? State further particulars respecting 

 the birds of this order. Name the families which it embraces. In what 

 respects do Pigeons differ from Gallinaceous birds ? Have they been treated 

 as a separate order, and under what name ? What chief peculiarity is men- 



