192 



OPISTHOCOMUS. SERPENTsEATER. 

 Generic Character. 



Rostrum mediocre, crassum, 

 validum, lateratim com- 

 pressum,basi vibrissis diver- 

 gentibus obductum, mar- 

 ginibus postice serratis, an- 

 tice utrinque Incisis ; man- 

 dibula superiore culmine 

 rotundato, versus apicem 

 inflexa ; inferiore apice re- 

 curvata. 



Tarsi reticulati, digito medio 

 breviores. 



Ungues longiusculi, com- 

 pressi, curvati, acuti ; por- 

 ticus longior, valde adun- 

 cus. 



Cauda rectricibus decern. 



Opisthocomus. Hoffmansegg, 

 Orthocorys. Vieillot, 

 Phasianus. Gmel. Lath. 

 Crax. Briss. 



?ak middle sized, thick, 

 strong, laterally compress- 

 ed, the base furnished with 

 divergent bristles, the 

 edges serrated behind, and 

 cleft on each side; the 

 ridge of the upper mandi- 

 ble rounded, towards the 

 tip bent down, the under 

 one at the tip recurved. 

 Tarsi reticulated, shorter 



than the middle toe. 

 Claws long, compressed, 

 curved, acute ; the hinder 

 one long, and very much 

 bent. 



Tail with ten feathers. 



TThIS genus was separated from the Pheasants 

 by that active and indefatigable zoologist Hoff- 

 mansegg : it is distinguished by having a shorter 



