EMEU. 379 



black ; the lids famished with eye-lashes ; bill short and broad, like 

 that of a Duck ; legs the length of the neck, with three toes placed 

 forwards, and the rudiment of a fourth behind ; tail of short feathers, 

 of equal lengths, springing from the rump; extent of wings from 

 tip to tip eight feet, but on account of want of unity of the webs of 

 the feathers, are useless in flight ; hanging over and hiding the tail ; 

 the general colour of the plumage on the back and wings is dull 

 grey, otherwise white; but some individuals are wholly white, and 

 others black, which may be esteemed Varieties. 



Azara makes the total length of the bird to be fifty-seven inches 

 and a half; the feathers of the body white, on the back lead-colour, 

 behind the head dusky ; at the nape a kind of black stripe, which 

 descends on the hind part of the neck, growing broader as it passes 

 down to the back ; the rest of the head and neck whitish ; shoulders 

 and scapulars ash-colour, like the habit of a Franciscan ; wings 

 much the same, but the feathers white towards the base, and dusky 

 in the middle; beneath the wings some pure white feathers, but the 

 others are only so for one-third of the length, the rest dusky; the 

 feathers in general long and dishevelled, those of the head like hairs; 

 at the bend of the wing a spur six lines long, but not useful ; eye 

 round, covered by a projecting bone ; rump conic, pointed, but no 

 tail ; shins very stout before, and covered with great scales. 



We have never met with any figure of the adult bird, which can 

 be depended upon, nor any specimen, except of one about half 

 grown, in the Leverian Museum, and from which our engraving 

 was taken, and a still younger specimen in the Museum of Mr. 

 Bullock. The height of the latter, standing erect, from the bill to 

 the ground nearly forty inches; the neck alone twenty. It had no 

 appearance of a tail, as the elongated wing feathers, and those of the 

 back hung down and covered it; and many of the back feathers 

 appeared to be crossed with eight or ten narrow, obscure bars ; the 

 general colour of the plumage was dun, approaching nearly to white 

 on the belly ; the segments of the shins about twenty in number, and 



C cc2 



