EUEYPTGA.— GETJS. 335 



mandibula ochracea ; pedibus oohraceis ; iride rubra. Long, tota circa 18-0, alse 9-1, caudae 6-4, culm. 2-45, 

 tarsi 2-25. 

 $ mari similis. Long, tota 16-5, alse 8-5. (Descr. maris et feminae ex San Emilio, Nicaragua. Mus. 

 nostr.) 



Hah. Guatemala {Skinner ^ ^^), Vera Paz, mountains S.E. of Coban {0. S. & F. B. G. ^i) ; 

 Costa Eica^'', Angostura 3, Machuca s, Aguacate Mountains ^ ^ ^^^ Franfzius), 

 Valza {Carmiol ^^), Pozo Azul de Pirris, Monte Eedondo [Zeledon ^) ; Panama 

 {M'Leannan 2 4 i3), Santa Fe « ", Cordillera de Tole ^ n, Cordillera del Chucu ^ n, 

 Southern slope of Volcan de Chiriqui '^ ^i {Arce). — Colombia ^^; Ecuadoe^^ 



E. major is the Central-American representative of E. helias, and differs from that 

 ■well-known species in its rather larger size, the less distinct superciliary streak, and 

 the darker colour of the upper surface, which is more uniform and lacks the light 

 brown bars so conspicuous in the southern bird ; the throat and chest are darker and 

 more uniformly rufous than in E. helias, not showing the black blotches which are a 

 feature of the latter. 



The present species appears to be more plentiful in Costa Rica than in Guatemala, 

 where we only met with it on the mountains to the south-east of Coban. 



Nothing has been recorded of its habits. 



Fam. GRTJID^. 



The Cranes constitute a well-marked family of the Alectorides, and are well-known 

 to all ornithologists. They have a schizognathous palate and schizorhinal nostrils, 

 with twelve rectrices and a tufted oil-gland. The sternum has no notches on -the posterior 

 margin, but the anterior end is perforated for the reception of the trachea, which has 

 several convolutions. There are no powder-down patches. The bill is long and the 

 nasal depression extends for rather more than half the length of the maxilla, the 

 nostril being overhung by a superior membrane. One striking peculiarity of the Gruidse 

 is the great development of the secondaries into drooping ornamental plumes, while 

 the head and neck are nearly bare in most of the species and somewhat brightly 



coloured. 



The Cranes make a large nest, generally in forest-swamps, and the eggs, usually two 

 in number, are olive-brown or grey, with brown and underlying purplish spots. 



GRUS. 

 Grus, Pall. Misc. Zool. fasc. iv. p. 1 (1767) ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxiii. p. 249 (1894). 

 Ummgeranus, Sharpe, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club,i. p.xxxvii (1893) ; Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxiii. p. 259 

 (1894). 

 The family characters, as given above, distinguish the genus Grus. The extent of 



