GALLINACEA, 359 
It is equally necessary to separate from Tetrao, the . 
Trvamus, Lath.—Cryrrurvs, Illig.—Ynampus, Azz.(1) 
Or the Tinamous, a genus of American birds very remarkable for a ° 
slender and long neck, (although their tarsi are short) covered with 
feathers, the tips of whose barbs are slender and slightly curled, 
which gives a very peculiar air to that part of their plumage. The 
beak is long, slender, and blunt at the end; somewhat arched, with 
a little groove on each side; the nostrils are pierced in the middle of © 
each side, and penetrate obliquely backwards. Their wings are 
short, and they have scarcely any tail. ‘The membrane between the 
base of the toes is very short. Their thumb, reduced to a spur, 
cannot reach the ground... The circumference of the eye is partly 
naked. They either perch on low branches of trees, or hide among 
“tall grass; they feed on fruits and insects, and their flesh is good. 
‘Their size varies from that of the Pheasant down to that of the 
Quail, some of them are even still smaller. 
One portion of them,—Przus, Spix, is still furnished with a 
small tail concealed under the feathers of the rump.(2) 
In. the other—Tinamus, Spix, every vestige of a tail is annihi- 
» lated.(3) Their nostrils are placed a little farther back. 
*. We should distinguish the Ryncnorus, Spix, whose beak, which 
is stronger, has no groove, and is slightly arcuated and depressed; 
the nostrils are pierced near the base.(4) 
: 
ee : .. Conumsa, Lin. : 
The Pigeons may be considered as forming a slight transition from 
the Gallinacez to the Passerine. Like the former, their beak is 
vaulted, the nostrils perforated in a broad membranous space, and 
(1) Except his Choro, which is a Gallinula, and his Uru, which is the Tocro al- 
ready spoken of among the Partridges. | 
(2) Tetr. major, Gm., or Tin. brasiliensis, Lath., or the Tin. magoua, Tem. ; 
Buff. Enl. 476, and much better, Hist. des Ois., IV, 4to, pl. xxiv; it is the Pezus 
serratus, Spix;—Tetr. cinereus;—Tetr. variegatus, Enl. 328, from which the Tin. 
undulatus, T., or Cryptura sylvicola, Vicill. Gal. 216, can differ but little; —Tin. 
'- apequia ( T’. obsoletus, Tem.) Col. 196;—T'in. tataupa, Swains. ill. 19, or T. plum- 
beus, 'F. Col. 196, or Pezus niamba, Spix, 78, a;—T'inamus noctivagus, Pr. Max., 
or Pezus zabele, Sp., 77;—Tin. macaco or vermiculé (T'. adspersus, T.), Col. 369, or 
_ Pezus \vapura, Sp. 78:—Tetr. sovi, Gm., or Tin. sovi, Lath. Buff., Enl. 829. 
(3) Tin. inambut, Azz. (Tt maculosus,1.), or T: mejor, Sp., 80;—T. medius, 
Spix,81;—T.- boraquira, Sp. 79;—T- carape, (ZT. pavoninus, T.) of which the Tinam. 
minor, Sp- 81, appears to be the female. These three species are very similar. 
(4) The Tinamou isabelle (T. rufescens, T.), Col. 412; or Rhinchotus fasciatus, 
Spix, 76. | : 
