CURASSOWS AND GUANS. ~ "[ 441 



scratch holes three or four feet deep, just above high-water mark, where the 

 female deposits a single large ^^^, which she covers over with about a foot of sand, 

 and then returns to the forest. At the end of ten or twelve days she comes again 

 to the same spot to lay another egg, and each female bird is supposed to lay 

 six or eight eggs during the season. The male assists the female in making the 

 hole, coming down and returning with her. The appearance of the bird, when 

 walking on the beach, is very handsome. They run quickly, but when shot at, 

 or suddenly disturbed, take wing with a heavy, noisy flight, to some neighbouring 

 tree, where they settle on a low branch, and they probably rest at night in a 

 similar situation. Many birds lay in the same hole, for a dozen eggs are often 

 found together, and these are so large that it is not possible for the body of the 

 bird to contain more than one fully-developed o^g^ at the same time. In all the 

 female birds which I shot, none of the eggs besides the large one exceeded the size 

 of peas, and there were only eight or nine of these which is probably the extreme 

 number a bird can lay in one season," 



The Curassows and Guans. 



Family GRACID^. 



The second family of the game-birds with the first toe on the same level as the 



others contains a number of large Central and South American birds, some of which, 



such as the curassows, are nearly as large as turkeys, while others, like certain 



guans of the genus Ortalis, are considerably smaller than the common pheasant. 



All the species have a long and well-developed tail, and in the males the windpipe 



is long and convoluted, and, as one would expect, their cry is very loud and harsh. 



They differ from the megapodes, not only in their osteological structure, but also 



in having a tuft of feathers on the oil-gland. Moreover, their nesting-habits are 



different ; the eggs being incubated by the parent in the ordinary manner ; though 



some of the species habitually nest in trees, and lay white eggs. When first hatched, 



the young are covered with a patterned down, like the chicks of other game-birds. 



These birds are arboreal in their habits, the greater part of their time being spent 



among the highest forest trees. The different genera may be conveniently grouped 



into two sections, the first four having the upper mandible higher than l)road, 



while in the remaining; seven it is broader than hifjh. The true 

 Curassows. . . . . 



curassows differ from the allied forms in their large size, and also by 



having the feathers on the top of the head semi-erect and curled at the extremities ; 



in the males the crest being uniformly black, while in the females it is more or less 



barred with white. The males are all much alike, the whole plumage being black 



glossed with purple or dark green, except on the under-parts, flanks, and under 



tail-coverts, which are white ; in two species the tail-feathers being also tipped 



with the same colour. The plumage of the females, on the other hand, varies much 



in the different species, in the crested curassow closely resembling that of the 



male, while in the remainder the upper-parts are variously barred with black, white, 



rufous, and buff! It will thus be apparent that the distinctive specific characters 



are, as a rule, much more marked in the females than in the males. The crested 



