472 BIRDS or BRITISH GUI ANA. 



Familv BUCCOXirLE. 



Tlie Puff-birds are rather small and of sombre-coloured 

 plumage. 



The bill is stout and shaqilv hooked in the genus Bucro, but 

 more slender and much less sharply hooked in Monasa and 

 Chelidoptera. and has numerous rictal bristles at the base. 



The wings are rounded : the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth 

 primaries are longest and snbequal. 



The tail is slightlv rounded. 



The legs are short ; the feet small, with rather lonor toes and 

 sharp claws ; the toes are zrgodactyle. 



Tlieir distribution is within the Neotropical Region — from 

 Guatemala to Argentina. 



The family consists of seven genera and about fifty-three 

 species. All the genera and fifty-one ' species occur in South 

 America, of which four genera and seven species are represented 

 in British Guiana. 



Genr.^ BUCCO Briss. 



Buceo Brisson, Om. iv. p. 92, 1760. Tvpe B. capensig Linn. 



In this genus the bill is strong, wide at the base, and sharply 

 liooked at the tip, with strong rictal bristles at the base. Tlie 

 plumage is liarred, spotted, or uniform. 



Key to the Species. 



A. Upper surface rufous B. capensig, ]). 473. 



B. Upper parts black. 



a. larger, wing more than 90 mm., tail 



more than 70 mm. ; a narrow white 



collar on the hind-neck ; tail uniform 



black or only narrowly edged with 



white at the tip B. macrorh^ncJms, 'p.ATS. 



h. Smaller, wing less than 90 mm., tail 



less than 70 mm. ; no white collar 



on the hind-ueck ; tail black, largely 



spotted with white B. tectus, p. 474. 



C. Upper surface dark earth-brown, with 



bufE edgings to some of the feathers. B. tamatia, p. 475. 



