the word * uni,’ but it appeared to me to he very different. The nest found by me in the woods near the
fine lake called Lagoa d’ Arara (Macaw Lake) was placed on the ground, and contained from ten to fifteen
pure white eggs, which coincides with Sonnini’s account; while Azara’s assertion that they are of a violet*
blue is doubtless a mistake, which may probably have arisen, as M. Temminck suggests, from his having
mistaken the eggs of a Tinamou for those of a Capueira. Some travellers have asserted that they have found
the nests of this bird on trees, and that they were placed in such situations in order that they might he
secure from the attack of snakes and other enemies; but this also is a mistake; for were such a precaution
necessary, it would be adopted by all the birds of the country, whereas numerous species, for instance all the
Tinamous, constantly breed on the ground. The sport afforded by the Capueira very closely resembles that
afforded by the Hazel Grouse: when a covey was disturbed by the pointers they flew to the trees, the
motion of their wings causing the same rustling sound as those of the Partridge ; occasionally they might
be killed very easily, at other times it was very difficult to sight them among the dense foliage of the woods;
the pectoral muscles, like those of the other members of the family, are very fully developed, and the flesh
which is very palatable, forms ati excellent article for the table.”
The sexes, as is usually the case with the members of this genus, differ but little in colour; the female is
however not so strongly marked and is somewhat smaller than the male.
Habitat. Brazil.
The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size.