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Show 512 MESSRS. SCLATER A N D SALVIN ON T H E CRACID.**. [Julie 9, Orn. Bras. P. 285. 286. 343. J> V. Pelzeln. 0. araucuan 0. albiventris Crax mikani 3 C. mikani $ (Of this Synopsis.) = 0. albiventris. = 0. guttata. = Crax daubentoni = C. alberti. Sect. III. Synopsis of the Species of Cracidae. The 51 species of Cracidae known to us seem to be naturally separable into three subfamilies. The external differences between the first two of these groups, although very appreciable to the eye, are not easily expressed in strict definition. There can, however, be no doubt that the Curassows and Guans belong to naturally distinct forms; and Prof. Huxley (P. Z. S. 1868, p. 297) has pointed out a trenchant difference in the proportions of their pelvis, which renders their skeletons easily recognizable. In the Penelopince the " moiety of the dorsal aspect of the pelvis, which is bounded in front by a line drawn through the acetabula," or " postacetabular area" (as Prof. Huxley proposes to call it), is comparatively broad; in the Cracince it is narrow. Combining this osteological character with a marked divergence in the form of the rostrum of the two sections, we may divide the subfamilies as follows:- a. area postacetabulari angusta: rostro superiore altiore quam latum ; culmine compresso I. CRACINCE. b. area postacetabulari lata: rostro superiore latiore quam altum: culmine depresso. a', vertex plumis obtectus: mesorhinium nudum: nares patulfe II. PENELOPINJK. b'. vertex tuberculo osseo munitus *. mesorhinium dense plumosum : nares absconditae III. OREOPHASIN.*E. Taking these three subfamilies in order, we propose to arrange them as follows :- Subfam. I. CRACING. a. rostri cera mollis, plus minusve tumida: nares patula-s in media maxilla positae 1. Crax. b. rostrum usque ad basin corneum, cera nulla: nares ad basin maxillee positse. a'. Iora nuda, nares patula** 2. Nothocrax. b'. Iora dense plumosa, nares plumis absconditae. a", sexus dissimiles: tuberculum frontale maximum, oviforme 3. Pauxi. b". sexus similes : culmen valde elevatum sed vix tuberculatum 4. Mitua. Genus 1. CRAX. „ Type. Crax, Linn. S. N. i. p. 269 (1766) C. alector. Mituporanga, Reichenb. Tauben, p. 136 (186 ?). . . . C. globicera. Crossolaryngus, Reichenb. Tauben, p. 136 (186 ?). . C. globulosa. Spheerolaryngus, Reichenb. Tauben, p. 136 (186 ?).. C. alberti. |