2 TIMEHRI. 
in the ground lined with dead leaves. The eggs, which 
number from seven to eight, are almost spherical in shape, 
and of a beautiful bluish-green colour, having the glossy 
sheen peculiar to the eggs of the Tinamous, a character 
which distinguishes them at once from other eggs. 
According to the statements of many old bush men, 
this bird sometimes lays as many as ten eggs, but we 
never recolleét having taken more than eight at one time. 
Another of the Tinamous, the “ Mamoo Swagger” 
of the “ Bovianders,’’ Crypturus Variegatus, makes no 
attempt at a nest at all but deposits its single egy on the 
ground atrandom. This bird seems to have no particular 
breeding season as its eggs can be obtained throughout 
the year. In colour they are deep chocolate, washed 
with pinkish violet, and are so curious that when once seen 
they cannot easily be forgotten. Unlike its larger con- 
gener which roosts on trees, the Mamoo Swagger passes 
the night on the ground, and is never seen to perch, in 
fat its small weak feet preclude its being able to do so. 
It is asserted that this bird occasionally lays two eggs, 
but as we have never met with an instance, most likely 
the eggs of another small Maam have been mistaken for 
it. 
Some Indians once brought us four or five eggs of a 
delicate pink shade and about the size and shape of those 
of Zinamus subcristatus, but their contents had been 
badly extra&ted, and they were filled with maggots which 
had perforated the shell in several places, completely 
spoiling them as specimens. They were the eggs of one 
of the Tinamous, but of what species there was no means 
of ascertaining. 
Uf all our game birds the “ Duraquara,” Odontophorus 
