450 TINAMID^. 



themselves by hiding their heads amongst the bushes. The English mahogany-cutters 

 called them the " Ground-Partridge." 



The eggs are spheroidal in shape and of a glossy blue colour ^. 



2. Tinamus fuscipennis. 



Tinamus robustus (nee Sel.), Lawr. Ann. Lye. IST. Y. ix. p. 140 ' ; v. Frantz. J. f. Orn. 1869, p. 37J. ' ; 



Zeledon, Cat. Av. Costa Rica, p. 29'; Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1885, p. 112*; Ann. Mus. Nac. 



Costa Rica, 1887, p. 128'; Salv. Ibis, 1874, p. 329°; Richm. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. xvi. 



p. 525 ', 

 Tinamus fuscipennis, Salvad. Cat. Birds Brit. Mas. xxvii. p. 500*. 

 Tinamus salvini, Underwood, Bull. B. O. C. vii. p. Its'; Ibis, 1898, p. 612 ". 



T. robusto similis, sed tectrieibus primariomm remigibnsque rigricantibus, extns brunneo laTatis : subtus 

 olivascenti-cinereua, pecfcore medio arenario, minute fusco irrorato ; abdomine tamea at bypochondriis 

 imis arenario-rnfis, magis distincte et latius fusco transfasciafcis ; subcaudalibus pallida cinnamomeis vel 

 arenario-rufis, axtus brunneo fasciatim indeiitatis. Long, tota circa 16-0, aloe 9'6, caudae 2-8, culm. 1'45, 

 tarsi S'O. (Descr. feminae adultae typicse ex San Eafael del Norte, Nicaragua. Mus. nostr.) 



Juv. {T. salvini) adulto similis, sed supra ochracao minute punctatus, hypochondriis tibiisque latins fasciatis ; 

 secundariis extus distincte rufo fasciatis. Long, tota 10"5, aloe 7"2. (Descr. exempl. typ. T. salvini ex 

 Carrillo. Mus. nostr.) 



Hab. Nicaragua, Eio Escondido (Bichmond ^ ^), San Eafael del Norte [Richardson *) ; 

 Costa Rica {von Frantzius^, Zeledon^ ^), San. Jose, San Carlos {J. Carmiol^), Pozo 

 Azul de Pirris (Zeledon^), Carrillo ^^°, Jimenez, Miravalles (Underwood, in lift.); 

 Panama, Veragua {Merritt^, Arce^). — Ecuadoe (Mus. Brit.). 



Count Salvadori has separated the large Tinamou of Nicaragua and Panama from 

 the typical T. robustus on account of its much darker, nearly black, primaries, primary- 

 coverts, and bastard-wing. The upper parts are also darker, the breast inclining to 

 olive, and the abdomen is redder. 



The typical specimens of T. fuscipennis, from which the above description is taken, 

 are in our collection. They have the darker quUIs not very strongly emphasized, 

 and some examples of T. robustus resemble them in this respect very closely. 

 T. fuscipennis is, in fact, a slightly darker form of T. robustus, and is scarcely to be 

 separated specifically. The chest, too, in some Nicaraguan examples is rather darker 

 and browner, and not so grey as in T. robustus, and the pale sandy colour reaches to the 

 lower chest. Both the Nicaraguan and Veraguan birds have pale rufous under tail- 

 coverts, with indentations of blackish-brown, so that they appear to be less regularly 

 barred than in T. robustus. This is a feature, however, which varies considerably in 

 Tinamous, and a much larger series than those at present at our disposal is necessary 

 before we can estimate the value of all the sequences of plumage. There is considerable 

 variation also in the extent of vermiculation on the under surface and in the barrinw of 

 the back, these markings becoming obsolete with age. The under tail-coverts, too, 

 vary very much in pattern, doubtless from the same cause. 



