214 TINAMOU. 



greyish brown, inclining to olive, with a mixture of white on the 

 upper part of the belly and sides, and greenish on the neck ; on the 

 beginning of the back, wing coverts, and tail, marked with dusky, 

 transverse spots, fewest on the last ; the sides of the head, throat, 

 and fore part of the neck, not well clothed with feathers;* on the 

 second quills a mixture of rufous ; the greater are plain ash-colour ; 

 tail short ; legs yellowish brown, very rough behind, the scales 

 projecting, and giving the appearance of the bark of a Fir-tree. 



Inhabits the woods of several parts of South America, particu- 

 larly Cayenne and Guiana, roosting at night on the lower branches 

 of the trees, two or three feet from the ground. The female lays 

 from twelve to sixteen eggs, the size of those of a Hen, and of a 

 beautiful green colour : the nest is on the ground, near the stump of 

 a large tree ; and if disturbed the hen is said to roll the eggs to 

 another place, at a good distance ; the young follow as soon as 

 hatched, and hide themselves on the least approach of danger; said 

 to have two broods in a year. The food consists of fruits and grain, 

 as well as worms and insects. The Indians frequently kill them in 

 the night-time, whilst roosting on the trees, as the flesh is accounted 

 very good, and said to be double in quantity to that of a Common 

 Fowl ; the eggs are also a great dainty. The note is a kind of dull 

 whistle, by no means unpleasant, and may be heard a great way off; 

 this they make exactly at sun-set every evening, and at break of day, 

 but not at other times; and the natives, by imitating their note, decoy 

 the birds within reach of the gun, or net. 



* In the PI, enlum. the sides of the head are red, and are seemingly bare, but in the 

 specimens we have seen, those parts are thinly covered with short feathers, of the same 

 colour as the rest of the plumage ; neither have the legs any roughness behind, but perfectly 

 smooth ; should therefore the drawing of the bird figured in this plate be faithful, it must 

 mean at least a different species. The figure given in the Hist, des Ois. is better, as the 

 sides round the eyes appear sufficiently covered with feathers, but the legs here are perfectly 

 smooth behind. 



