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Show 312 AVES. Enl. 892. Each of them has a black streak and a white one behind the eye. Their name is derived from the swiftness wilh which they run. Nothing is known with respect to their habits.(l) As far as we can judge ft·om their exterior, it is here that we can most conveniently place the CA RIAMA, Briss.-MrcnoDACTYLus, Geoff.-DICHOLOPHus, lllig.(2) Whose beak is longer and more hooked, the commissure extending under the eye, which gives them somewl~at of the physiognomy and disposition of birds of prey, and approximates them somewhat to the Herons. Their extremely long and scutellatecl legs are terminated by very short toes, slightly palmated at base, and by a thumb which cannot reach the ground. One species only is known, anti that is from South America, the Micro. cristatus, Geoff.; Palamedea cristata, Gm.; Saria, Azzar.; Ann. duMus. (.l'Hist. Nat., XIII, pl. xxvi; Col. 237, and Vieill. Gal. 259. It is larger than the Heron, and feeds on lizards and insects, which it' hunts for on high grounds and along the edges of forests. Its plumage is a fawn-coloured grey, waved with brown; some slender feathers on the base of the beak form a light tuft which inclines forwards. It flies but seldom, and th.en badly; its loud voice resembles that of a young Turkey. As tts flesh is much esteemed, it has been domesticated in several places. FAMILY III. CULTRIROSTRES. This family is recognized by the thick, long, and stron.g beak, which is most generally trenchant and pointed, and ts almost wholly composed of the birds comprised in the genus ARDEA of Linnreus. In a great number of species, the trachea (1) Add the Coure-vite r1 ailesviolettes (Curs. 0/La/copterus, T.), Col. 298;.:_the C. <i double cullier (C. bicinctus, T. ), Man. Orn. ;-Ours. Teminckii, Swains. Zoo!. I!l.106· (2} Microdactylus, short-finger. JJiclwlopltus, crest in two rows. 1/remat.opus, blood-coloured feet. M. Vieillot has preferred the barbarous name of Carwnn, which must be pronounced "ariama. GRALLA TO RilE. 373 of the male forms various curves; their creca are short, and even the true Herons have but one. We subdivide it into three tribes, the Cranes, the true Herons, and the Swans. The first tribe forms but one great genus. Gnus, Lin. T-he Cranes have a straight beak, but slightly cleft; the membranous fossa:: of the nostrils, which are large and concave, occupy nearly one half of its length. Their legs are scutellated, and the toes moderate; the external ones but slightly palmate, and the thumb hardly 11eaching to the ground. A more or less considerable portion of the head and neck is destitute of feathers in nearly all of them. Their habits are more terrestrial, and their food more vegeta9Ie th.an those of the following genera: consequently they have a musculaT gizzard, and long creca. Their lower larynx has but one muscle on each side. At the head of this genus we place with Pallas,( 1) PsoPHIA, Lin., 'Or the Trumpeters, which have a shorter beak than the other -species; the head and neck are merely invested with down, and the (ircumference of the eye is naked. They live in the woods, and feed ()n grain and fruit. The species best known is from South America, and is called the Trumpeter, (Paophia c1·epitans, L.,) Enl. 169, from its faculty of producing a low, deep sound, which at first seems to proceed from the anus. It is the size of a capon; the plumage is blackish, which, on the breast, reflects a bri1liant violet hue; the mantle is ash coloured, shaded above with fawn colour. It is a very grateful bird, and as susceptible of attachment to man as a dog. It is even said to be so docile as to take the command of the poultry-yard. It flies badly, but runs fast, and builds on the ground at the foot of a tr·ee. Its flesh is eaten.(2) (1) Spicil. Zool., IV, 3. .' .12) At Cayenne, according to Barrere, it is called .llgami,. Caracm·a in the Anbiles, according to Dutertre. As the name of Trumpeter is also given in Africa. to a Calao, Fermin (Descrip. de Surin.) absurdly transfers to the Agami the cha· lacter of both beaks at once, The .!lgami was for a long while confounded ~·ith the Macucagua of Marcgravc, which is a. 1'inamou. Psophia is a name coined by Barrere from 'l"o<!>eo, to ml\ke a noise. . Add, Psophia vi1·idis, Spix, 83, and Ps. leucoptera, Id. 84. |