55- 



TINAMUS. 



distinctive characters of the various genera ; although it may be mentioned that 

 the family may be divided into two sections, according to the presence or absence of 

 a distinct first toe. Of the seven genera with a well-developed first toe, the robust 

 tinamu (Tinamus robustus) and the solitary tinamu (T. solitarius), of Brazil, are 

 representatives of the typical genus. The banded tinamu (Crypturus noctivagus), 

 of Brazil, is a well-known member of the largest genus of the family which contains 

 some sixteen species; while the martiiieta, or great tinamu (Rhynchotus rufescens), 

 of Brazil and Argentina, is one of two congeneric species, which may be compared in 

 size to a pheasant. Its eggs are of a wine-red colour. On the other hand, the spotted 

 tinamu (Nothura maculata), and the allied Darwin's tinamu (N. darwini), both of 



GREAT TINAMU, OR MARTINETA (j liat. size). 



which are inhabitants of the Argentine pampas, are more nearly the dimensions of 

 a small partridge ; their eggs being either purple-red or liver-colour. The two 

 genera in which the first toe is rudimentary are each represented by a single 

 species, of which by far the handsomest is the crested tinamu (Calodromas 

 elegans), of Patagonia, in which both the upper and lower plumage is elegantly 

 mottled, and the head adorned with an upright crest. This species, w r hich is of 

 the size of an English pheasant, lays from ten to a dozen blue-green eggs as large 

 as those of a fowl. Pentland's tinamu (Tinamotis pentlandi), the representative 

 of the second three-toed genus, lacks the upright crest. 



To ordinary observers, the tinamus, both as regards general 

 appearance and habits, would be considered as game-birds, of which, 



Habits. 



