Alfred Newton

“ To the trumpeters must undoubtedly be accorded the rank of a distinct family, Psophiidae; but like so many other South-American birds they seem to be the less specialized descendants of an ancient generalized group—perhaps the common ancestors of the Rallidae and Gruidae. ”

“ A seventh species P. cantatrix, from Bolivia, has since been indicated by W. Blasius (Journ. f. Ornith., 1884, pp. 203–210) , who has given a mono graphic summary of the whole group very worthy of attention. The chief distinctions between the species lie in colour and size, and it will be here enough to describe briefly the best known of them, P. crepitans. This is about the size of a large barndoor fowl; but its neck and legs are longer, so that it is a taller bird. ”