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Mr. C. Barnby Smith,



THE BREEDING OF THE PARTRIDGE TINAMOU.


Nothopiocta perdicaria.


By C. Barnby Smith.


In the early part of 1907 I obtained (through Mr. Thorpe,

of Hull) a pair of these Chilian birds and placed them in an

aviary consisting of a roomy shelter shed facing South, with

glass verandah in front, the rest of the run (about 30 square yds.)

consisting of rough grass with plenty of large tufts, some of

which also extended underneath the verandah. I fed the birds at

first on mealworms in addition to small seeds, but subsequently

found that to give the former—or indeed any insect food—was

quite unnecessary, as the birds kept in perfect health on the

small seeds alone, though of course they picked a good deal of

green food for themselves.


These Tinamous are very nervous birds and spend a good

deal of time by day hiding under grass tufts. They make small

hollows to lie in, and the danger of inadvertently treading on the

birds is very great. The flight is very rapid and I had to cut

some wing feathers to prevent the birds dashing themselves

against the top of the aviary when suddenly surprised. Except

when surprised or frightened they do not often take to their wings.

They seem to feed chiefly about dusk. They are very silent birds,

though occasionally, when alarmed, uttering a small piping cry.

They can run rapidly, but naturally move a few steps at a time

and look round with a quick nervous movement. I was doubtful

whether they would stand an English winter without artificial

heat, but determined to try. Accordingly I wired off a good

portion of the outside run and put fir branches, dry grass, and

bracken in the shed so as to induce the birds to seek cover inside.

This was only a partial success, as in the worst weather last

winter I often found them under grass tufts outside the shed.


The cock Partridge Tinamou is said to be smaller than the

hen, and as I had no prospect of getting any more birds I vainly

tried to persuade myself that my birds differed in size, but had to

admit in the end that there was no recognizable difference, and

with this all my friends agreed. However, in June 190S, signs of

pairing were apparent, and on the iSth June under a large tuft of



