-m 



290 



A VES^ORDER ANSERIFORMES. 



The Screamers.— 

 Sub-order 



PalamedecB. 



and tropical portions of both the Old and New Worlds. Three species belong 

 to the genus Fhcetdcopterus — Fhieniconaias has one species, P. minor, found in 

 Africa and North- Western India ; and Phcenicoparrus inhabits the Andes of 

 Chili and Peru and has two species, P. andiihus and P. jamesi. 



In Miocene times several forms of birds allied to the Flamingoes existed 

 in Europe, and have been classed by Mr. Lydekker under the extinct genus 

 PalcEolodus. He states that they were smaller than the Flamingoes of tlie 

 present day, and had shorter and stouter legs, while it is probable also that 

 their bill was not deflected. 



Although agreeing in many characters with the Ducks and the Geese, the 

 Screamers have one peculiarity which separates them from all chenomorphine 

 birds, in that they have no uncinate processes to the ribs, 

 and no lamince on the sides of the bill. The toes are long 

 and almost devoid of web, and the general appearance of 

 the birds is gallinaceous. Two genera are known, 

 PaJamedea and Chauna. The genus Palamedea is recog- 

 nised by the long horn which it carries on its forehead. Beyond this it has 

 no crest on the head, and has fourteen tail-feathers. Only one species. 

 P. cornuta, is known, and this is an 

 inhabitant of Guiana, Amazonia, Vene- 

 zuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia. The general 

 plumage is black, with a white belly, 

 and the wing carries two spurs, the 

 anterior one of which is much the 

 longer. Very little has been recorded 

 of the habits of the Horned Screamer, 

 but Mr. Edward Bartlett noticed the 

 species about the lakes in the Upper 

 Amazon.=i, and the habits are probably 

 very similar to those of the next species. 

 The genus Chauna differs from Pala- 

 medea in having a, crested head, naked 

 lores, no horn on the forehead, and in 



possessing twelve tail-feathers instead of fourteen. Tipo 

 species of Chauna are known — the Crested Screamer 

 (G. cristata) and the Derbian Screamer [G. chamria). 

 The latter is found in Venezuela and Colombia, while 

 the Crested Screamer inhabits Argentina and the neigh- 

 bouring provinces of Southern Brazil. In Mr. Hudson's well-known work 

 on Argentine ornithology we find the following notes on the species :— 



"The Crested Screamer, like most of the larger Birds and Mammals in 

 every part of the globe to which European emigration is attracted, is 

 probably doomed to rapid extermination. My observations of the bird in 

 that portion of the Pampas where it is most abundant date back some years, 

 to a time when the inhabitants were few and mainly of Spanish race— never 

 the destroyers of bird-life. The conditions had become extremely favourable 

 to this species. It is partially aquatic in its habits, and in desert places is 

 usually found in marshes, wading in the shallow water, and occasionally 

 swimming to feed on the seeds and succulent leaves of water-loving plants. 

 After the old giant grassrs of the Pampas had been eaten up by the cattle, 

 and the sweet grasses of Europe had taken their place, the Screamers took 

 kindly to that new food, preferring the clovers, and seemed as terrestrial in 



Fig. 49.— '^ns HORNFP SCRSAMES 



{Palamedea coinuta). 



The Crested 

 Screamer 



(Chauna cristata). 



