TALAMEDEIDAE 



109 



bill is short and Fowl-like, with a blunt decurved tip, a covering of 

 soft skin, and more or less of a cere ; the tibiae are partly naked, 

 the entirely reticulated metatarsi moderately long and fairly 

 stout ; the toes are elongated and have strong claws, but only 

 rudimentary anterior webs ; the wings are ample and somewhat 

 rounded, with eleven primaries and about sixteen large second- 

 aries ; the tail has fourteen broad feathers in Palamcdea and 

 twelve in Ghaima} Very noticeable are the two sharp spurs on 

 the carpal portion of each wing, of which the foremost is the 

 biggest ; while in the even distributioji of the body-plumage this 

 Family recalls the Eatitae and the Spheniscidae. The sexes are 

 alike ; the nestlings, where known, are clad in yellowish-brown and 

 grey down, the wing-spurs being developed in the earliest stages. 

 The following account of the habits of Chauna cristata^ the 

 Chajii or Chaka, must stand for those of the Family, in default 

 of further details concerning the more northern forms. This 

 striking species is a common resident in the swamps and 

 brackish lagoons of Argentina, where the islands of the intricate 

 morasses often hold flocks of more than a hundred individuals, 

 the separate pairs being said to mate for life. The flight is slow, 

 with powerful strokes of the wing, the birds being greatly 

 addicted to soaring in spiral circles until they are hardly 

 visible, and at times floating lazily upon the breeze. They 

 rise noisily from the ground with laboured action, and are occa- 

 sionally seen to perch in trees ; but they are by nature waders 

 which swim with considerable facility, and, when they do so, 

 their bodies shew well above the water, owing no doubt to the 

 same pneumaticity which causes a crackling noise to be heard 

 when the skin is compressed. The food consists of succulent 

 water-plants, seeds, clover, and so forth. The loud cry, uttered 

 with the head thrown back when the performer is on the ground, 

 may be heard at a distance of two miles, the male giving vent 

 to a " cha-ha " and the female replying with a " cha-ha-li." 

 The regular period for reproduction is the southern spring — 

 September and October — but it is a remarkable fact that breed- 

 ing takes place also in autumn and even winter ; the nest being 

 a massive structure of reeds and rushes slightly hollowed above, 

 and standing some two feet high with its foundations in water, or, 



^ Gibson, Ibis, 1880, pp. 165-167 ; Hudson, Argentine Ornitholorjy, ii. 1889, pp. 

 119-122. ■■* Chauna has a dilatation near the middle of the trachea. 



