NOTHOCEECUS.— CRYPTUEUS. 4G3- 



Jwi. praecedenti similis, sed alis crebrius fasciis et maculis oohracescentibus notatis, efc pectore fasciis fuscis 

 indistinctis ornato, abdomine et tibiis magis distincte fusco fasciatis. (Descr. exempl. forsan junioris ex 

 Costa Eica. Mus. nostr.) 



Ilab. Costa Eica ^^^, Cervantes {Zeledon ^ v. Frantzius ^), Irazu {Rogers ^), Faldas 

 del Irazu {Zeledon''), Eio Navarro, foot of the Candelaria Mts. {Boucard^), 

 Aseni, Achiote de Poas, Estrella de Cartago ( Underwood, in litt.) ; Panama 

 {mus. nostr.*). 



Von Frantzius's Tinamou is allied to K honapartii of Venezuela and Colombia ; but, 

 according to Count Salvadori *, it may be distinguished by the colour of the greater 

 under wing-coverts. In N. honapartii these are greyish, barred with dull rufous, 

 whereas in N. frantzii they are uniformly greyish-brown, without bars, and the inner 

 webs of the primaries are not distinctly rufous, but are greyish, freckled with irregular 

 narrow bars of rufous *. 



N. frantzii was originally described from specimens obtained at Cervantes in Costa 

 Eica ^, from which country we have received several examples. 



The only note published on the habits of this bird is one by M. Boucard : — " Like 

 all the Tinamidae, this species is found in the dense parts of the forest, where it feeds 

 on insects and seeds. The birds can be easily detected by the noise they make when 

 scratching the ground in search of food. They go in pairs, repeatedly calling to one 

 another. When fearing danger they run with much rapidity " ^. 



Two eggs, attributed to N. frantzii by Mr. Gates ^, are of a darker blue than those 

 of any species of Tinamus. 



CEYPTUEUS. 



Crypturus, Illiger, Prodr. Mamm. et Av. p. 244 (1811) ; Salvad. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxvii. 

 p. 514(1895). 



Crypturus agrees with the two preceding genera in its general characteristics, viz. the 

 possession of a hind toe, and ten tail-feathers all hidden by the tail-coverts ; but is 

 distinguished at once by the smooth hinder aspect of the tarsus. 



The species, as determined by Count Salvadori {I. c), number twenty-two, of which 

 the majority are found in South America. Seven are enumerated in the present work 

 as Central American, but some of these are probably not really distinct. 



1. Crypturus meserythrus. 



Tmamus meserythrus, Scl. P. Z. S. 1859, p. 392 ^ ; Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1864, p. 371 \ 

 Crypturus meserythrus, Salv. P. Z. S. 1870, p. 218 ". 

 Tinamus pileatus (nee Bodd.), Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. vii. p. 334 *. 



Crypturus pileatus, Nutting, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. v. p. 409'; Zeledon, An. Mus. Nac. Costa Rica^ 

 p. 128°; Richm. Pr. U. S.Nat. Mus. xvi. p. 525 'j Salvad. Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxvii. 

 ■ p. 522 ' ; Gates, Cat. Eggs Brit. Mus. i. p. 12 '. 



