CURASSOWS AND GUANS. 



443 



Fauzi Curassow. 



Derbian Guan. 



,^N \ 



the greater part of the plumage black in both sexes. In two species the under- 

 parts and under tail-coverts are chestnut, the first having the tail-feathers tipped 

 with white and the second with chestnut, while in the third all these parts are 

 white. All three may be distinguished from the curassows by their elevated and 

 vaulted upper mandible and the want of curling of the crest-feathers. 



The last genus contains only the curious pauxi curassow 

 (Pauxis pauxi) of the north - western parts of South America, 

 remarkable for the large, fig-shaped blue casque on the forehead. The male has 

 the entire plumage black, except the under - parts, under tail - coverts, and the 

 tips of the tail-feathers, which are white ; in the female the back, wings, and breast 

 being chestnut, paler on the flanks, and barred and mottled with black. 



To the second group, with the width of the bill at the base 

 greater than the height, belongs the rare Derbian guan (Oreophasis 

 derbianus), from the wooded 

 slopes of the Yolcan de Fuego 

 in Guatemala. The characteristic 

 features of this bird are the 

 elevated, straight, deep scarlet 

 horn on the top of the head 

 between the eyes, and the densely 

 feathered base of the upper 

 mandible. In both sexes the 

 general colour of the head and 

 upper-parts is black glossed with 

 dark green, the base of the throat 

 being almost naked, the front of 

 the neck and breast white shad- 

 ing into buff on the sides, with 

 dark shaft-stripes to the feathers, 

 and the remainder of the under- 



parts brownish black, while there is a wide white band across the middle of the tail. 

 A more numerous group is that of the guans (Penelope), in- 

 cluding fifteen species from Central and South America. In all these 

 the chin and throat are generally naked, with a wattle, and there is a large naked 

 space surrounding the eye. An allied form (Penelopina nigra), with the plumage 

 of the sexes different, occurs in the highlands of Guatemala, the male being entirely 

 black, glossed with green, and the female rufous above barred with black, and 

 beneath sandy mottled with dark brown. The habits of all these birds appear to 

 be very similar ; during the breeding-season they are only found in pairs, while at 

 other times they congregate in large flocks, always frequenting the forest, and 

 passing the greater part of their time in the largest trees, when not engaged in 

 searching for fallen fruits and insects. In the next genus (Ortalis), including 

 seventeen Central and South American forms, the throat is naked as in the two 

 last, but there is a thin band of stifF-shafted feathers down the middle. The only 

 member of the family which enters North America is the chachalaca (0. vetula), 

 which has a wide range, extending from Southern Texas through Eastern Mexico 



DERBIAN GUAN. 



Guans. 



