266 



GRUIFORMES 



eleven, and the inner feathers comparatively short. The nostrils 

 are pervious, the tongue is lanceolate, the furcula is U-shaped, 

 the after-shaft is diminutive, and the powder-down patches are 

 abundant, though writers differ as to their extent. E. helias — 

 as Prof. Newton says in his excellent account ■'^ — is not to be 

 described in a limited space otherwise than generally ; it has a 

 black head, with a white stripe above and imder each eye, and a 

 white throat : the remaining plumage " being variegated with black, 

 brown, chestnut, bay, buff, grey, and white — so mottled, speckled, 

 and belted either in wave-like or zigzag forms, as somewhat to 

 resemble certain moths. The bay colour forms two conspicuous 

 patches on each wing, and also an antepenultimate bar on the tail, 



Fig. 56.— Sun-Bittern, 



behind which is a subterminal band of black. The irides are red ; 

 the bill is greenish-olive ; and the legs are pale yellow." B. major 

 is larger and more uniform in colour. Both adults and nestlings 

 have copious down, that of the latter being lightish brown with 

 lines and spots of darker broAvn and white. The sexes are similar. 

 The " Sun-Bittern," to use its common but misleading name, is 

 found on the larger rivers, where the banks are wooded and 

 swampy ; it is shy but easily tamed, and, according to Bates, is 

 kept in captivity by the Brazilians. It walks quietly and cir- 

 cumspectly with horizontal body and outstretched head, and 

 probably flies but little. Like the Kagu, it executes a fantastic 

 dance, but in this case the wings and tail form a semicircle which 

 nearly conceals the body. The note is a soft or plaintive long- 



1 Diet. Birds, 1896, pp. 923-925. 



