172 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 



species, which like the last has a yellow shield, but 

 bordered with red and the bare portions of the tibiae 

 crimson j hence the name : and the Red-fronted 

 Coot, F, leucopyga, with beak and shield scarlet. 



Altogether the Family Rallidse counts thirteen 

 species in Argentina : eight Rails and Crakes, two 

 Watcrhens, and three Coots. 



ARGENTINE COURLAN 



Aramus scolopaceus 



Above brown; forehead, lores, and chin greyish white; neck 

 striped with white ; beneath similar ; bill brown ; legs greenish grey; 

 length 24, wing 13 inches. Female similar. 



This curious bird has a blackish-brown plumage, 

 glossed with bronze on the upper parts ; its total 

 length is about two feet and a half, and the wings, 

 when spread, measure nearly four feet from tip to 

 tip. It has been called '* an abnormal relative of the 

 Rails at most," and in its peculiar flight and many 

 of its habits certainly differs very widely from the 

 Rails. It has but one known relative, the Giant 

 Courlan of northern South America, a rare species 

 about whose habits little is known. 



The beak of this bird is nearly five inches long, 

 straight, and of an iron hardness ; the tip is slightly 

 bent to one side, the lower mandible somewhat more 

 than the upper. The tongue extends to the extremity 



