WADERS — COURLANS AND SERIEMAS 



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nearly related to the white stork of Europe. The sun-bittern {Eurypyga 

 helias), which inhabits wooded banks of rivers, where it lives mostly on the 

 ground in pairs and flies in an uncertain fluttering way, represents the family 

 Eurypygidcv in Brazil, Amazonia, Bolivia, Guiana, and Venezuela; the only other 

 member of the group being En. major, of Central America, Colombia, and Ecuador. 

 Sun-bitterns, which are classed as a suborder of the crane-like birds, are character- 

 ised by the naked oil-gland, the presence of powder-down patches and a notch on 

 each side of the lower border of the breast-bone, but have no bare areas on the 

 sides of the neck. The feathers of the upper parts are beautifully barred with 





fl^^t4Z¥A^C_ * -_ 



SERIFMA. 



brown, black, and white, in marked contrast to which are the red eyes, the waxy 

 yellow beak, and the straw-coloured legs. These birds, which go about either alone 

 or in pairs, derive their name of sun-bittern from their habit of basking, with out- 

 spread pinions, in the full glare of the tropical sun. Insects form their staple food, 

 and in capturing them sun -bitterns display remarkable activity. They breed in 

 bushes or trees at a height of only a few feet above the ground, laying two greyish 

 eggs, mottled and speckled with rufous, in a clutch. 

 Courians and The Brazilian courlan (Aramus scolapaceus) and the Florida 



seriemas. courlan (A. giganteus), which ranges from Florida to Central 

 America and perhaps Ecuador, have been regarded as large relatives of the rails, 

 but are now placed near the sun-bitterns. On the other hand some doubt still exists 



