SERIEMA 827 



form came to be autoptically described scientifically. This was 

 done by the elder Geoffroy-St. Hilaire (Ann. du Musdum, xiii. pp. 362- 

 370, pi. 26), who had seen a specimen in the Lisbon museum ; and, 

 though knowing it had already been received into scientific nomen- 

 clature, he called it anew Microdactylus marcgravii. In 1811 Illiger, 

 without having seen an example, renamed the genus Dicholoplius 

 a term which has since been frequently applied to it placing it in 

 the curious congeries of forms having little affinity which he called 

 Alectorides. In the course of his travels in Brazil (1815-17) Prince 

 Max of Wied met with this bird, and in 1823 there appeared from 

 his pen (N. Ad. Acad. L.-C. Nat. Curiosorum, xi. pt. 2, pp. 341-350, 

 tab. xlv.) a very good contribution to its history, embellished by a 

 faithful life-sized figure of its head. The same year Temminck 

 figured it in the Planches Colorizes (No. 237). It is not easy to say 

 when any example of the bird first came under the eyes of British 

 ornithologists; but in the Zoological Proceedings for 1836 (pp. 

 29-32) Martin described the visceral and osteological anatomy of 

 one which had been received alive the preceding year. 1 



The Seriema, owing to its long legs and neck, stands some two 

 feet or more in height, and in menageries bears itself with a stately 

 deportment. Its bright red beak, the bare greenish blue skin 

 surrounding its large yellow eyes, and the tufts of elongated 

 feathers springing vertically from its lores, give it a pleasing and 

 animated expression; but its plumage is generally of an in- 

 conspicuous ochreous-grey above and dull white beneath, the 

 feathers of the upper parts, which on the neck and throat are long 

 and loose, being barred by fine zigzag markings of dark brown, 

 while those of the lower parts are more or less striped. The wing- 

 quills are brownish-black, banded with mottled white, and those of 

 the tail, except the middle pair, which are wholly greyish-brown, 

 are banded with mottled white at the base and the tip, but dark 

 brown for the rest of their length. The legs are red. The Seriema 

 inhabits the campos or elevated open parts of Brazil, from the 

 neighbourhood of Pernambuco to the Rio de la Plata, extending 

 inland as far as Matto Grosso (long. 60), and occurring also, though 

 sparsely, in Paraguay. It lives in the high grass, running away in 

 a stooping posture to avoid discovery on being approached, and 

 taking flight only at the utmost need. Yet it builds its nest in 

 thick bushes or trees at about a man's height from the ground, 

 therein laying two eggs, which Burmeister likened to those of 

 the Land-Rail in colour. 2 The young are hatched fully covered 



1 The skeleton has been briefly described and figured by Eyton (Osteol. 

 Avium, p. 190, pis. 3, K, and 28 bis, fig. 1). 



2 This distinguished author twice cites the figure given by Thienemann 

 (Fortpflanzungsgesch. gesammt. Vogel, pi. Ixxii. fig. 14) as though taken from 

 a genuine specimen ; but little that can be called Ralline in character is 



