274* GRALL^. PALAMEDEAD^E. 



walk with ease and celerity on the leaves of aquatic 

 plants that float on the surface of rivers and lakes 

 in tropical countries. Their food is believed to 

 consist principally of the seeds and leaves of such 

 plants as grow in the waters. 



The tropical regions of South America, Africa, 

 and Asia, are the native countries of these birds, 

 which are found only in the vicinity of large ex- 

 panses of water. 



GENUS PALAMEDEA. 



The Screamers are large birds which are con- 

 fined to the hot and teeming forests of South 

 America. They have the beak shorter than the 

 head, covered at the base with small feathers 

 slightly arched, rather high at the base, tapering 

 to the point, where it descends somewhat abruptly. 

 The forehead is armed with a long, slender 

 pointed horn. The nostrils are oval and open. 

 The wings are armed with two spurs, the one 

 large and lancet-shaped, situated on the shoulder, 

 the other a little nearer to the tip ; these are 

 firmly fixed on a bony core : the third and fourth 

 quills are the longest. The front toes are united 

 at the base by a small membrane ; the hind claw 

 is very long, straight, and sharp : the tarsi are 

 clothed with regular many-sided scales instead of 

 transverse plates. 



There is only one ascertained species, the Horned 

 Screamer (Palamedea cornuta, LINN.), called in 

 Brazil the Anhima, and in Guiana the Camichi 

 or Camouche. It is larger than a goose, of a 

 greenish-black hue, variegated on the long neck 

 with white, and marked with a large cinnamon- 

 coloured spot on the shoulder. 



