CRAClDvE — THE CURASSOWS. 



390 



with white, cxfppt the iiiiihlle one. iM-alhor.s aloiiff the iniihlie oC the tlirnat lilack ; 

 outer etlfre of jn'imaries tinged willi f^iiiy. Eyes brown, 15111 iiml feet lead-colored. 

 Length, '23.00; wing, 8..'>0; tail, ll.iKt. 



IIab. Valley of the llio Grande, and southward to Guatemala. 



Tliis form is ilistiiiguislialtlo IVnin 0. rvtula, as rostrictcil, of wliich it is 

 llio nortlieni riiprosentativc, by the paler and less fulvous colors, and li>,dit(;r 

 — often nearly white — tips to the tail-feathers, besides other minor dif- 

 ferences in coloration. The two cannot be separated specilically, however, 

 since they undoubtedly grade into each other. 



Hadits. Tliis very remarkable liird, belonging as it does to a form pecu- 

 liar to this continent, is 

 the only species fouml 

 within the limits of the 

 United States, and only 

 within a (juite restricted 

 area in the valley of the 

 Kio (Irande. Xumerous 

 si)ecies of this family 

 are found in the warmer 

 countries of America, 

 especially ^lexico and 

 Central America, all or 

 nearly all of which ap- 

 pear to Ijo capable of 

 domestication, and some of whicii, including the present species, have, in 

 repeated instances, been (|uite as completely domesticated its our common 

 Turkey. 



Birds of the family to which the Te.xan species belongs differ in a very 

 marked manner, in habits, from most Oalluuiaa; inasmuch as they not only 

 live almost exclusively in deep forests, but are also remarkable for habitually 

 freiiuenting trees, feeding upon their foliage, and building their nests within 

 their branches, more in the manner of the smaller birds. They are all said 

 to have loud and discordant voices, and are generally of a black or dark 

 plumage. 



Specimens of this bird were taken at Boquillo, in New Leon, in the 

 spring of 1853, by Lieutenant Couch, who speaks of them as gregarious and 

 as seeking their food wholly or in part on trees. According to ^Ir. Clark, 

 they do not occur higher up the Kio Grande than the vicinity of Ringgold 

 Barracks, inhabiting the deepest cha])arrals, which they never quit. They 



the liclly tinged with ochmccous or rusty ; t.iil, hiuuzcd green ; the tivo lateral feiithers tijipcd 

 with white or hufl". Length, 21.00 ; wing, 7.70 ; tail, U.OO ; tarsus, 2.50. Ifub. Texas to 

 Honduras, on east side of Mexico. 



A near ally to 0. ntida is the 0. Ii-wmjitxlra, Oould (S. & S. p. .ISO) from Paeific eoast of 

 Central Anieri(ra. This dilfeis in pure whito of under jiarts. The size also is eousiderably less. 



ihtd'iila tnnrcalti. 



