THE ALECTORIDES. 123 



B. With narrow, much contracted tract-bands. 



2. Dicholopkiu. The pterylosis of this remarkable bird has much that is peculiar about it, 

 but it most closely approaches that of Psophia and Grus. The head and the greater part of the 

 neck are clothed by an uninterrupted plumage ; but in the former the region of the eye is 

 naked, and behind the orifice of the ear there is a rather large circular space. On the naked 

 spot above the upper eyelids I counted about twenty very large cilia. Among the contour- 

 feathers there are some sparse down-feathers, which also occur on the spaces, but are here almost 

 still more scattered. On the neck the lateral space is entirely wanting. The inferior space, on 

 the contrary, commences about the middle of the neck ; it does not, however, widen posteriorly, 

 but even becomes somewhat narrower, whilst, exactly as in Gypaetos (Plate II, fig. 1), a strong 

 inner branch issues from the lower extremity of the neck-plumage, and runs down on the edge 

 of the furcula nearly to its lowest part. With this inner branch the pectoral band is connected 

 only by a few feathers, another peculiarity which reminds us of the structure in the Hawks. The 

 pectoral band itself consists, remarkably enough, at first merely of a moderately broad, rather 

 densely feathered outer branch, curved into the form of an S ; but the main band is completely 

 separated from this, and only commences upon the upper part of the breast, close to the crest of 

 the furcula ; on reaching the belly it turns somewhat more outwards, and terminates close to the 

 hindmost part of the pelvis, at some distance from the anus. Coexistent with these great pecu- 

 liarities in the pterylosis there is a dorsal tract formed exactly as in Psophia and Grus. This 

 originates as a tolerably strong fork directly from the extremity of the neck-plumage, and ter- 

 minates before the end of the shoulder-blades. The hinder part soon afterwards commences with 

 two rows of feathers, which gradually widen externally, and approach each other until they coalesce 

 at the middle of the pelvis to form a somewhat sparsely feathered rump-band. At some distance 

 from this are observed the narrow but strong lumbar tracts. The axillary tracts have nothing 

 characteristic about them ; they are separated by a narrow space from the upper plumage of the 

 wing. Beneath, the entire wing, with the exception of the feathers standing on the anterior 

 margin of the great wing-membrane, is a uniform space ; even the hypopterum is entirely wanting. 

 Of remiges I found about twenty-Jive ; the first are graduated, especially the four outermost, for 

 the seventh is the longest ; five feathers are inserted on the thumb, and I counted twelve rectrices 

 in the tail. The distinctly visible oil-gland is of a conical pyriform shape, and entirely naked, 

 even on the mamilla. 



3. Psophia (Plate VIII, figs. 3 and 4). The pterylosis of Psophia differs from that of 

 Dicholophus in the following points. The homogeneous plumage of the head, in which I do not 



Hence, after more mature examination, I would not extend my formerly expressed opinion (in Naumaan's 

 ' Naturgesch. der Vo'gel Deutschl./ Bd. vii, p. 7) that Otis is very nearly allied to the latter family, ao 

 far as to unite it therewith ; but I now prefer to combine it with Dicholophus, Psophia, and Grus, as all 

 these genera agree in many points, although they also differ from each other. Grus and Psophia 

 approach the Fulicarice just as much as Otis does the Limicol<K, and Dicholophus occupies a middle 

 place between them. 



