Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

CURASSOW (Cracinae)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 636 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

CURASSOW (Cracinae) , a See also:group of gallinaceous birds forming one of the subfamilies of Cracidae, the See also:species of which are among the largest and most splendid of the See also:game birds of See also:South See also:America, where they may be said to represent the pheasants of the Old See also:World. They are large, heavy birds, many of them rivalling the See also:turkey in See also:size, with See also:short wings, See also:long and broad tail, and strong See also:bill. In See also:common with the See also:family to which they belong, they have the See also:hind toe of the See also:foot placed on a level with the others, thus resembling the pigeons, and unlike the See also:majority of gallinaceous birds. With the exception of a single species found See also:north of See also:Panama, the curassows are confined to the tropical forests of South America, .See also:east of the See also:Andes, and not extending south of See also:Paraguay. They live in small flocks, and are arboreal in their habits, only occasionally descending to the See also:CURATOR ground, while always roosting and See also:building their nests on the branches of trees. Their nests are neat structures, made of slender branches interlaced with stems of grass, and lined internally with leaves. They feed on fruits, seeds and See also:insects. They are often tamed in several parts of South America, but have never been thoroughly domesticated anywhere. Large See also:numbers of these birds were, according to K. J. Temminck, brought to See also:Holland from Dutch See also:Guiana towards the end of the 18th See also:century, and got so completely acclimatized and domesticated as to breed in confinement like See also:ordinary poultry; but the establishments in which these were kept were broken up during the troubles that followed on the See also:French Revolution. Their flesh is said to be exceedingly See also:white and delicate, and this, together with their size and the beauty of their plumage, would make the curassows an important gain to the poultry yards of See also:Europe, if they were not such See also:bad breeders.

The subfamily of curassows contains four genera and twelve species, all confined to South America, with the exception of Crax globicera—a Central See also:

American species, which extends northward into See also:Mexico. This See also:bird is about 3 ft. in length, of a glossy See also:black See also:colour over the whole See also:body, excepting the See also:abdomen and tail coverts, which are white. In common with the other species of this genus its See also:head bears a See also:crest of feathers curled forward at the tips, which can be raised or depressed at will. The See also:female is of a reddish-See also:brown colour, although varying greatly in this respect, and was formerly .described as a See also:separate species—the red curassow. In another species, Crax incommode, the greater See also:part of the black plumage is beautifully varied with narrow transverse bars of white. The galeated curassow (Pauxi galeata) is See also:peculiar in having a large See also:blue tubercle, hard and stony externally, but cellular within, and resembling a See also:hen's See also:egg in size and shape, situated at the See also:base of the See also:hill. It only appears after the first moulting, and is much larger in the male than in the female.

End of Article: CURASSOW (Cracinae)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
CURACAO, or CURACOA 		[next]
CURATE (from the Lat. curare, to take care of)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries