CRYPTURA, Vicill.
Bill slender, straight, depressed, broader than deep, tip rounded, ridge distinct, forming a large nasal foss; nostrils lateral, pierced in the nasal foss, near the middle of the bill, ovate, expanded, and open ; tarsus long, frequently with asperities behind ; four short toes, the hinder one par ticularly so ; tail wanting, or very short, and concealed by the rump feathers ; wings short.
This genus was instituted by Latham, who described four species ; but Azara and Temminck have added eight to the list. They are all natives of South America, where they live on fruits, wild berries, and insects. They fly heavily, and run quickly, seldom perching, except to pass the night, and then only on the lowest branches of trees. They reside either in open plains, or about the outskirts of woods. Except during the pairing season, they are usually met with in small coveys. Their call, which is generally heard in the morning and evening, is a prolong ed, tremulous, and plaintive whistle, which the sportsmen know how to imitate, and thus decoy them within reach of shot. They have two broods in the course of the year. They are tranquil and indolent during most of the clay, and cater in the morning and evening, and frequently by moonshine. In general, they are dull, timid, and unsocial; but they have many of the habits of the other Gallinacea. The colonists of South America reckon them excellent eating, and carelessly denominate them Partridges or Quails.
T. rufescens, Tem. Rufcscent Tinamoo, or Guazu. Greyish-red, transversely striped with black and white above, margin of the wings rufous red ; region of the ears black, pale yellowish red, waved with brown beneath ; sides and abdomen greyish. Fifteen inches and a half in
length. This bird, the most beautiful of its family, is a native of Paraguay, residing among thick herbage, which it seldom quits, except on the point of being trampled on, or struck with a stone. Its cry, which is heard at a consi derable distance, is a lugubrious whistle. The female conceals her nest among straw, or a tuft of grass, and lays about seven eggs of a fine violet hue, and equally thick at both ends. When alarmed, the guazu erects the feathers on the head, in the form of a crest.
T. Brasiliensis, Lath. Tem. Tetrad major, Gmel. CryJieura maguua, Vicill. Brazilian or Great Tinamoo. Olive-brown, slightly striated across, with black above, greyish-red beneath ; crown rufous ; the secondary quills transversely striated with rufous and black. Size of a com mon fowl; length eighteen inches ; the body thicker and more compact than that of the pheasant. The birds of this species inhabit Brazil and French Guiana, where they roost on the low branches of trees, two or three feet from the ground. The female lays from twelve to fifteen eggs, of the size of those of a hen, and of a beautiful green co lour, in a nest formed on the ground, among the thick herbage, and carelessly composed of moss and dried vege tables. The young run after the moths almost as soon as hatched, and hide themselves on the least appearance of danger. Their cry, which is a sort of dull whistle, may he heard a great way off Many of them are shot, and many caught, when roosting on the trees. The flesh and eggs are esteemed great dainties.