Description.—Black; lower belly and tips of tail-feathers white; lores naked; cere and bill yellow; feet flesh-colour: whole length 32·0 inches, wing 14·0, tail 14·0. Female: above black, with buffy cross bars; crest white, barred with black: beneath, throat black, breast more or less barred with black; abdomen ochraceous; tail black, with buffy-white bars and tips.
Hab. Paraguay and N. Argentina.
Azara described both sexes of this Curassow under the name of “El Mitu” (Apunt. iii. p. 83), but, along with other authors, confounded it with the Crested Curassow of Guiana (Crax alector). In Paraguay it is said to be numerous, but in Argentina only occurs on the northern and eastern frontiers (in Tucuman and Misiones), where it frequents the forests.
[366.] PENELOPE OBSCURA, Temm.
(DARK GUAN.)
Penelope obscura, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 136; iid. P. Z. S. 1870, p. 525; Barrows, Auk, 1884, p. 275 (Entrerios). Penelope boliviana, Burm. P. Z. S. 1871, p. 701 (Tucuman)? Penelope pileata, White, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 627 (Catamarca)?
Description.—Dark bronzy green; lower back and abdomen chocolate-brown; feathers of upper back, wing-coverts, and body beneath down to the middle of the belly margined with white; feathers of front part of head edged with silvery white: whole length 25·0 inches, wing 11·5, tail 12·0. Female similar.
Hab. Paraguay, Northern Argentina, and Bolivia.
This Guan was first made known to us as an inhabitant of Paraguay by Azara, who described it in his ‘Apuntamientos’[9] under the name of “El Yacúhú” or “Pavo del Monte” (Wood-Turkey) of the Spaniards. The examination of skins of it obtained by Capt. J. T. Page, of the U.S. Navy, during his expedition up the Rio Paraguay and Rio Vermejo, enabled Messrs. Salvin and Sclater to make this identification.
In Entrerios, Mr. Barrows tells us, this species is limited to the borders and islands of the River Uruguay, where in heavy growths of timber it is not uncommon, though rarely seen. Here it builds a large nest in the trees and lays white eggs.