File:Natural history (1897) (20717891086).jpg

Title: Natural history
Identifier: cu31924001567506 (find matches)
Year: 1897 (1890s)
Authors: Lydekker, Richard, 1849-1915; Kirby, W. F. (William Forsell), 1844-1912; Woodward, Bernard Barham, 1853-1930; Kirkpatrick, R. (Randolph), b. 1863; Pocock, R. I. (Reginald Innes), 1863-1947; Sharpe, Richard Bowdler, 1847-1909; Garstang, Walter, 1868-1949; Bather, Francis Arthur, 1863-1934; Bernard, Henry Meyners
Subjects: Zoology
Publisher: New York, D. Appleton and company
Contributing Library: Cornell University Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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TRUMPETERS—SERIAMAS. 277
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The Trumpeters. —Sub-order Fij. 38.—TnR Common Trumpeter (Pso^tim repitans). The nest is on the ground, the nggs being white, a peculiar colour for a Crane-like bird, and the nestling is covered with down, and is able to provide for itself soon after it is hatched. The birds gain their name "Trumpeter" from their peculiar trumpet-like note, and no doubt the modification of the trachea has some- thing to do with this, as the windpipe is enormously long, and is continued under the skin of the abdomen nearly to the anus. The Trumpeters differ from the Cranes in having oval or holorhinal nostrils, and their plumage, instead of being firm and harsh, is particularly soft. They are residents in the parts of South America they inhabit, and have not any great powers of flight. They live at large in the forests, and often assemble in flocks of considerable size. In associating the Seriamas with the Cranes, we are following the most recent conclusions of anatomists; but it must be conceded that they are very aberrant members of the Grtiiformes. In some respects they resemble the bustards, and, like them, have holorhinal nostrils, but in the possession of four toes, and in other characters, they differ so much from those birds that in our opinion there is really no real affinity between them. Like the Cranes and the other allied forms we have just been considering, the Seriamas have a cleft or schizognathous palate, and their mode of life presents some features in common with the Secretary-Bird (Serpentariiis secretarius) of Africa. Recognising this fact, some ornitho- logists, myself among the number, have considered the Seriama to be an aberrant accipitrine bird. The common Seriama is an inhabitant of South-Eaatern Brazil; and in Argentina another species occurs, Burmeister's Seriama (Chunga hiirmvistcri). These two represent the only known species of the sub- order. The resemblance in appearance to the secretary-bird is remarkable, and in its mode of walk, its crested head, and its long legs, there is much that reminds us of the latter bird, which has a curious method of pounding its food. If the latter be a rat, it springs into the air, and brings down both feet with all its force, till it has reduced its prey to a pulp. This is also done by the Seriama. Mr. Hudson says that these birds live on the ground among the high grasses of the Campos, where the traveller frequently hears their loud screaming cry as he rides along the tracks. Their food The Seriamas.- Sub-order JDichvlophi.

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