go 
The Rujous Tinamott. 
because t^MS handsome species has a fine crest. These were 
near!}' as large as a hen Pheasant, bright rufous on the sides of 
the neck, tawny on the breast, the crown with dark brown 
striations, the back handsomely barred with dark brown, each 
feather being margined with light buff, the markings being very 
similar to those of the Great Bustard. Ultimately they were 
identified as the Rufous Tinamou. 
The Tinamous are essentially ground-birds and rarely 
perch. Tliey vary in size from that of a large Fowl to that of a 
Quail. Their wings are short, concave and rounded. The 
slanum is long and slender with a well-developed keel. Another 
characteristic feature is the elementar}' and functionless tail, 
which consists of ten weak featliers quite hidden b}^ tlie tail 
coverts. 
The genus Titiamus has ten members which range over 
almost the whole of South America from Mexico to the barren 
plains of Patagonia. These ten species differ considerably in 
their individual habits, some being solitary and some consorting 
in large coveys, but all are polyandrous. As with the Turnicidse 
and some of the Ratidas, we find the strange condition of the 
entire duties of incubation and the care of the v oung being 
undertaken by the male. The female, after laying one clutch, 
pairs with another male and takes no further interest in her 
offspring. It is not at all easy to give a reason for this habit, but, 
if one were tempted to offer a conjecture, it would be that ground 
birds are exposed to so many enemies that nature finds it neces- 
sary to avail herself of every device to produce as large and as 
many broods as possible. For instance, the common Partridge, 
though neither polyandrous nor polygamous, will lay as many as 
twenty eggs and, if the female be destroyed, the male will suc- 
cessfully rear the young and even adopt and rear the young 
hatched by another pair. The Tinamous lay at almost any time 
of the year, run with extraordinary rapidity, and in the matter of 
" taking cover " they have nothing to learn from Baden Powell's 
scouts. 
The species we are now dealing with is found in Bolivia, 
Brazil and the Argentine, where it is sometimes called Perdiz 
f'nmde'" and sometimes ""Mar/ijiela." It runs with extraordinar}'' 
