400 



ALECTORIDES. 



Aramus pictus. 



FLORIDA COURLAN; LIMPKIN. 



Tantalus pictus [Ephoushyka Indian), llie Orying Bird, beautifully speckled, Bartrasi, Travels, 



1792, 293. 

 Aramus pictus, CouEs, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phikd. 1875, -354 (e.x Bartr. 1. c.) ; Chuck List, 2d ed. 1SS2, 



no. 671. — KiDGW. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 581. 

 Hallus giyanleus, Bonap. Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci. Philad. V. 1S25, 31 (Florida). 

 Aramus gigantcus, BAiRn, B. N. Am. 1858, 657 ; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 481. 

 Aramus scolapaceus, var. gigantcus, CouES, Key, 1872, 271 ; Check List, 1873, no. 464. 

 Aramiis scolopaccus, Bonap. Am. Orn. III. 1828, 111, pi. xxvi. (nee Vieill. ). — Nutt. Man. If. 



1834, 68. — AuD. Orn. Biog. IV. 1838, 543 (not pi. 377, which is true A. scolopaccus') ; Synop. 



1839, 219 ; B. Am. V. 1842, 181 (not pi. 312, which is A. scolopaccus). 

 Notlicrodius Iwlostictus, Cab. J. f. O. 1856, 426 (Cuba). 

 Aramus holostictus, ScL. & Salv. Ibis, I. 1859, 227 (Belize and Omoa, Honduras). 



Hab. Greater Antilles, Florida, and Atlantic coast of Central America, to Honduras and 

 Costa Rica (Pacific coast) . 



Sp. Char. Adult : General color olivaceous umber-brown, each feather marked centrally with 

 a sti'ipe of white, those markings linear on the head and neck, but much broader and more or less 

 cuneate and ovate on the lower jiarts, upper part of the back, scapulars, and wing-coverts ; sides, 

 flanks, and crissum uniform chocolate-brown, without streaks ; primaries and tail uniform rich 

 purplish chocolate, with purplish reflections ; upper parts generally more or less glossed with 



purplish bronze. Lores, malar region, chin, and throat dull white, laintly streaked with brown. 

 "Bill greenish yellow, dusky toward the end of both mandibles, but especially the upper ; iris 

 hazel ; feet lead-gray ; claws dusky " i (Addubon). Young : Similar to the adult, but the brown 

 duller, the white markings much narrower, and less sharply defined. Dovmy young : " Covered 

 with coarse tufty feathers of a black color" (Audubon). 



Total length, about a5.00-27.00 inches ; extent, 40.00-42.00 ; wing, 11.00-13.00 ; cultnen, 

 3.50-4.75 ; tarsus, 3.50-5.20 ; middle toe, 3.30-3.50. 



Among more than fifty specimens of this bird examined, we find great variations of size and 

 proportions; and if the labels are to be credited, this variati(m seems quite imlependent of sex. 

 Young Ijirds resemble adults, but are duller colored, with the white markings much nan-ower and 

 less distinct. Several examples from Porto Rico have shorter and deeper bills, and are smaller 

 generally, than any we have seen from Florida. In a larger series, however, these differences may 

 prove not constant. An example from La Pahna, Costa Rica (Pacific side), collected by Mr. 

 C. C. Nutting, is not essentially different from some Floridan specimens, although rather more 

 richly colored than most of them. 



' In the dried skin, the bill is mainly dusky, the mandible light brownish on the basal half, the 

 terminal half horn-color, dusky, or even glaucous ; the legs and feet black. 



