TIN AM US. 



53 



some interesting sketches, from which the following concerning the present species is 

 selected : 



This bird has no cover but the giant grasses, through which it pushes like a rail, 

 and wherever the country is settled it soon disappears. It is solitary in its habits, con- 



Fi<;. L'L 1 . ttltynchotus rufescens, Perdiz grande, 1'Ynambu. 



ceals itself in the grass very closely, and flies with great reluctance. I doubt if there is 



anywhere a bird with such a sounding flight as this ; and I can only compare the whirr 



of its wings to the rattling of a light vehicle driven at great speed over a hard road. 



From the moment it 



rises till it again 



alights, there is no 



cessation in the rapid 



vibration of the wings; 



but, like a ball thrown 



by the ha^d, the bird 



goes gradually sloping 



towards the earth, the 



distance it is able to 



V Vi fl' lit FlG. 23. -Pelvis of Tinamus robustus ; a, acetabulum ; it, ilium ; is, ischiutn ; ;>, pubis. 



being from fifteen hundred to two thousand yards. This flight it can repeat, when 

 driven up again, as many as three times, after which the bird can rise no more. The 



