POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



from the bleak summit regions of the Hindu-Kush to the sierras of 

 Portugal, and from the Atlas to the Norwegian Alps; but there are 

 several exclusively West Indian species of the genus Corvus, includ- 

 ing a steel-blue rook that flits about the Cuban coffee plantations and 

 has a curious habit of perching on a stump and talking to itself in a 

 sort of croaking chuckle for half hours together. 



The gaUince, as might be expected from their limited wing-power, 

 are well represented in the number of individuals, rather than of 

 species. Turkeys, though abundant in the coast forests of Central 



i;iiJBEAN Albatross. 



America, are not found wild in any part of the West Indies, where 

 the perennial presence of berries would be as inviting as the absence 

 of foxes. 



In the mountains some species of curassow have, however, de- 

 veloped into a stately game bird, the Oreophasis niger, or highland 

 " pheasant," that lays a dozen large eggs, and in its courtship season 

 becomes so infatuated that it can be approached and killed with a 

 common walking-stick. The consequent persecution has made it 

 rather scarce in famine-stricken Cuba, but in Hayti it can still be 

 seen in troops of a dozen or more, scratching up the dry leaves of the 

 sierra forests, or pecking at insect-haunted shrubs, exactly like a 

 flock of Tennessee turkeys. 



There are also several varieties of true pheasants, and two species 

 of quail (besides the above-mentioned codornilla), and in eastern 

 Cuba numerous barnyard chickens have taken to the woods and be- 

 come so shy that it seems a puzzle how their ancestors in the coast 

 range of Burmah could ever be captured and domesticated. They 

 still practice polygamy, combined with a system of co-operative house- 

 keeping, to judge from the number of eggs that are often found in 



