226 AVES. 



however, are not prolonged. It also resembles the Peafowl in the brilliancy of the colours of the 

 male : circumference of the eye, and even the checks, naked, as in the Pheasants, and the tarsi armed 

 with stout spurs. [The upper mandible very much overhangs the under one, as observable in a less 

 degree in the Pheasants generally, enabling this bird to root up bulbs with facility.] 



We know but one species, from the mountains of the north of India, the Resplendent Impeyan (L. refulgens, 

 Tern. ; Pharianut Impeyanut, Lath.). Size of a [small] Turkey, and black ; the crest and dorsal plumage of 

 changeable colours, reflecting tints of gold, copper, sapphire and emerald : tail-feathers chestnut-rufous, [and the 

 rump white]. The female and young are brown, dashed with grey and fulvous. 



The Turkeys (Melcayris, Lin.) — 

 Have the head and upper part of the neck invested with a naked, mammellated skin ; an appendage 

 under the throat, and another conical one on the forehead, which becomes inflated and prolonged when 

 tnc bird is excited by passion, when it hangs over the beak. On the lower part of the neck in front, 

 the adult male has a tuft of very long pendent bristles ; the coverts of the tail, shorter and more stiff 

 than in the Peafowl, can be expanded in like manner into a fan. The males have weak spurs, [and are 

 the only American Poultry-birds wherein a trace exists of those appendages]. 



But one species was known for a long time, the Common Turkey (.1/. gnllipavo, Lin.). It was brought from 

 North America during the 16th century, and was soon diffused throughout Europe, where it continues to be 

 reared for the excellency of its flesh, its great size, and the facility with which it is bred. The Wild Turkeys vastly 

 exceed the domestic breed in brilliancy, and are of a greenish-brown, glossed with copper reflections. 



A second, however, has been recently described, the Ocellated Turkey (.)/. ocellata, Cuv.), which approximates 

 the Peafowl in the splendour of its colours, and by the disks of sapphirine-blue, inclosed by circles of gold and 

 ruby-red, which adorn the tail-coverts. It was captured in the Bay of Honduras. 



[We may here introduce a large Poultry-bird of New Holland, 



The Vultekn (_A!,cttirn, Gray), — 

 Which has been strangely arranged by some authors among the Vultures, on account of its bald neck. 

 From the Poultry generally, it is distinguished by the shortness of the downy plumage of the rump, 

 as in the Touracos ; its hind-toe is large, and on the oame plane with those in front, the same as in 

 the Curassows, like which it is also destitute of spurs ; but its tail-feathers are eighteen in number. 



One species only is known (.1. Lathami, Gray), entirely of a dusky colour, the feathers of the under-parts tipped 

 with whitish.] 



The Pintados (Numida, Lin.), 

 Or Guinea-fowl, have a naked head, and fleshy wattles below the cheeks, a short tail, and the skull 

 generally surmounted by a callous crest. Their feet are without spurs; the tail short and pendent, so 

 that the long feathers of the croup impart a rounded figure. 



The common domestic species (N. meleagris, Lin.), originally from Africa [the indigenous habitat of all], has a 

 slate-coloured plumage, everywhere speckled with round white spots [of different sizes]. Its noisy and querulous 

 disposition render it an incommodious species in poultry-yards, although its flesh is excellent. In the wild state, 

 they live in large flocks, and prefer the neighbourhood of marshes. 



[Three or four others are known, of which N. vulturina, Gould, is the most beautiful, having pointed purple 

 feathers on the lower part of the neck; the body-plumage of all being nearly similar. The Crested Pintado 

 (N. cristata, Pallas), is very remarkable for the appendage to the furcula forming a sort of cup, in which the 

 trachea undergoes a convolution. No trace of this structure exists in the common species.] 



The great genus of 



Pheasants (Phasianus, Lin.) — 



Is characterized by partly naked cheeks, covered with a red skin, and by the tectiform tail, the feathers 



of which are variously disposed. We first distinguish among them 



The Fowls (Gallus, Cuv.), — 

 The head of which is surmounted by a vertical fleshy comb, and the inferior mandible furnished on 

 each side with fleshy wattles. Their tail-feathers, fourteen in number, are elevated on two vertical 

 planes, placed back to back ; the coverts of that of the male are prolonged to form the arch over the 

 tail proper. 



The species so common in our poultry-yards, [absolutely without a special English name] (Ph. gallus, Lin.), 

 varies endlessly in colour, and very much in size : there are races wherein the fleshy comb is replaced by a crest 

 of reverted feathers ; some in which the tarsi and even the toes are feathered ; another in which the crest, wattles, 

 and periosteum of the whole skeleton »•« black ; and some monstrous kinds which have hereditarily five and even 

 six toes to each foot. 



