S34< CLASS AVES. 



has no nudity at its base. It is a bird about the 

 size of the partridge, to which its long and thin neck, 

 its broad and spreading tail, and its legs but Uttle 

 elevated, give an appearance different from that of 

 other waders. The plumage, varied with bands and 

 lines of brown, fulvous-red, grey, and black, remind 

 us of the finest moths. It is found on the banks of 

 rivers in Guiana. 



The Helias Phalanoides^ of Vieill, and the Scohpax 

 Helias, Lath. 



The second tribe is more carnivorous in its regimen, 

 and may be recognized by the strength of its bill 

 and the breadth of its toes. At the head of these 

 may be placed 



The Boat-bill. Cancroma. Lin. 



Which are nearly allied to the herons by the strength 

 of their bill, and the kind of food consequent there- 

 upon, without any extraordinary form of such bill ; 

 by strict analysis, however, it wiU be found to be the 

 night heron's bill, very much spread out on the sides ; 

 it is indeed very broad from right to left, and formed 

 as it were with two spoons applied one against the 

 other on their concave sides ; the mandibles are 

 strong and trenchant, and the upper has a sharp 

 tooth on each side of the point ; the nostrils open 

 near the base, and are prolonged in two parallel 

 furrows, which continue to near the point. The feet 



