TINAMIDAE 183 



abbreviated tail possesses ten very weak feathers, hidden by the 

 coverts in Tinamus, Nothocercus, and Crypturus, and hardly 

 distinguishable from them in Eliynchotus, Nothoprocta, and 

 Nothura, the coverts themselves almost forming a train in the 

 male of Taoniscus. Calodromas has twelve rectrices. The tongue 

 is small and triangular, the crop is large and globular, the after- 

 shaft may be rudimentary or wanting; powder -down feathers 

 occur near the rump, and the down of the adults is sparing, while 

 that of the nestlings, 1 which run from the shell, may be simple 

 or complex, and is of a bumsh-brown or chestnut colour, often 

 relieved by black markings and white streaks. 



Like Partridges in appearance, and varying from the size of a 

 large Eowl to that of a Quail, Tinamous are essentially ground- 

 birds, and rarely perch, some species being solitary and others 

 forming coveys; they haunt the undergrowth of thick forests, 

 dry bushy and grassy flats, or exceptionally rocky mountains. 

 The flight is strong and extremely swift, accompanied by quick 

 vibrations of the wings, occasionally varied by a gliding motion ; 

 so reckless moreover is the pace that individuals are frequently 

 killed by striking against the first obstacle they meet on rising. To 

 flush them, however, is often a vain attempt, as they run with 

 amazing rapidity, and are readily concealed by the surrounding 

 vegetation. The voice a trill or mellow whistle of several 

 notes differs somewhat according to the species, and may be 

 heard even in winter ; the food consists of seeds, berries, roots, 

 bulbs, spiders, insects and their larvae, maize- and potato-crops 

 being at times seriously damaged. A hole is scraped under 

 shelter of a tussock or bush, and scantily lined with dry leaves 

 or herbage, to receive the eggs, deposited in some districts almost 

 throughout the year ; these are oval, and so wonderfully burnished 

 as to be totally unlike those of any other bird. They vary, 

 according to the species, from reddish-chocolate, wine-purple, or 

 liver-colour to dark blue, bluish-green or primrose, and number 

 from four or five to sixteen ; though the smaller figures are perhaps 

 the most reliable, as larger sets, though not uncommon, may be 

 the produce of more than one hen. As in the Turnicidae, and to 

 some extent in the Eatitae, the male alone incubates, sitting about 

 three weeks, and feigning disablement to decoy intruders from the 

 nest. The flesh is very delicate. The birds dust themselves daily. 

 1 Of. W. P. Pycraft, Ibis, 1895, pp. 1, 507. 



