CARINATE BIRDS ORDER TINAMIFORMESTHE T1NAMOUS. 225 



observations on the ways of the kiwis in a state of nature are singularly 

 deficient, and it is to be feared that the* members of the genus Apteryx 

 will disappear from the face of the globe without their life-history being 

 thoroughly recorded. The eggs, judging from those laid in captivity, 

 never appear to exceed two in number, and they are incubated in true 

 Struthious manner by the male. Those which have been kept in our 

 zoological gardens in this country have been seldom seen in daylight, as they 

 go to sleep all the day and conceal themselves in the straw of their dens. 

 When taken out, they run round in a dazed manner, and quickly return to 

 their concealment. It is even said that when poked with sticks they will 

 not rouse themselves, and quickly go to sleep again. An extinct form of 

 Apteryx has been discovered in New Zealand (Pseudapteryx, Lydekker). 



All the rest of the birds belong to the order Carittatce, or birds 

 with a keeled sternum. Thus they ought to be all 

 capable of flight, but as a matter of fact there are many Carinate Birds. 

 exceptions, and there are not a few which have lost this 

 power. The vast majority, however, have a deep keel or ridge to the 

 breast-bone, which distinguishes them from the Ratitce, of which we have just 

 spoken. The nearest allies to the Apteryges, in a natural series, would be, 

 in our opinion, the rails (Rallidce\V>\it we are bound to take notice of the curious 

 partridges of South America, the tinamous, because they possess a remarkable 

 palate, the bones of which are very like those of the Struthious Birds, and 

 hence we commence our study of the Aves Carinatce with the order Tinami- 

 formes. In general appearance they resemble partridges, and 

 they have much the habits of the latter birds, excepting the The T^amous. 

 fact, that many of them are inhabitants of the forests, where- Tinamiformes 

 as the partridges are, essentially birds of the open country. 

 Sixty-five species of tinamous are enumerated by Count Salvadori in his recent 

 treatise on the order, and they are all inhabitants of the neo-tropical region, 

 i.e. Central America, south of Mexico, and South 

 America generally. Some of them are of large 

 size, as big as an ordinary hen, but with the 

 feathering much closer set, and with very little of 

 the tail visible. The most remarkable feature 

 of the tinamous is, perhaps, the colour of their 

 eggs, which varies from a purplish brown or red 

 to a bluish green, but whatever the colour may 

 be, the eggs are always remarkable for their gloss. 

 As Count Salvadori observes, they are " curiously 

 unlike those of other birds, and the shell looks 

 like highly burnished metal, or glazed porcelain, 

 presenting also various colours, which seem to 

 be constant in the particular species, varying 



from pale primrose to sage green or light ^,. 4 _ THK G , EAT TmAMO 

 indigo, or from chocolate brown to pinkish (Rhynchotus rufescens). 

 orange." 



The species of tinamou vary very much in size, some being no larger 

 than an ordinary quail, while others are as big as a good-sized fowl. The 

 plumage of many of them is mottled and barred, and none exhibit any 

 decorative ornament beyond the occasional presence of a chestnut breast. 

 While some of them inhabit the open pampas, others are strictly forest birds, 

 and the conclusion forced upon us is that tinamous are struthious partridges, 

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