462 



BUSTARDS, THICKNEES, AND CRANES. 



two birds are inhabitants of widely separated continents, putting mimicry out of 

 the question. These birds are found in open districts in the interior of Brazil, 

 where the ground is either clad with grass, or dotted over with low vegetation ; 

 and are generally found in pairs, or, during the breeding-season, in family parties 

 of three or four. The coloration of the plumage harmonises well with that of the 

 soil of the grassless districts. Mainly diurnal in its habits, the seriema often 

 reveals its presence by its peculiar cry, which has been compared to the bark 

 of a dog, and is most generally uttered in the early morning. In spite of being 

 such an essentially cui-sorial bird, at night the seriema roosts on the bough of 

 some tree. Its food consists chiefly of snakes, lizards, etc., on which account the 

 bird is strictly protected by the Brazilians; and in this respect we may notice 

 another resemblance to the secretary- vulture. Young rats, mice, worms, etc., also 

 form a portion of the diet. During the pairing -time, which takes place in 

 February, the males attract the females by a display analogous to that noticed 

 under the head of the bustards. The nest of twigs is built in a low or moderately 

 tall tree ; and at the proper season contains a pair of pale-coloured eggs sparingly 

 blotched with rusty-red. The down-clad young remain, it is said, a few days in 

 the nest before they are carried down by their parents. Seriemas have laid in 

 the London Zoological Gardens, and in two instances a young bird has been 

 hatched, but in both the offspring has been devoured by its parent. 



The Trumpeters. 



Family PsOPHIIDAi. 



The trumpeters (Psophia), al- 

 though less aberrant than the seriemas, 

 form another South American family 

 of somewhat doubtful affinity, which 

 may be best placed here, as apparently 

 connecting the seriemas with the 

 cranes. While agreeing with the two 

 preceding families in having oval 

 (holorhinal) nasal apertures in the 

 skull, they differ from both in that 

 the breast -bone has no notch, while 

 there are long tracts devoid of plum- 

 age on the sides of the neck, the 

 number of toes being four. In appear- 

 ance, these birds, of which there 

 are several species, may be likened 

 to large, long-legged, blackish guinea-fowls ; the head and beak being strikingly 

 fowl -like. In these birds the body is stout; the neck of moderate length: 

 the head of medium size ; the beak short and swollen, with its base convex, and 

 its tip bent down and compressed ; and the leg is long, with much of the tibia 

 bare; and the toes (of which the third and fourth are connected by a basal 



TRUMPETER. 



