i8 



THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



RED COCHINS 



The icings in the t\pieul Cochins are so short us to he useless 



some fort\- 



migration may be gatliered from Canon Tris- 

 tram's statement tliat in Algeria, in April, he 

 found the ground covered with quails for an 

 extent of many acres at daybreak, where on the 

 preceding afternoon not one was to be seen. 

 These are the birds which were so eagerly seized 

 by the Israelites as a welcome change in the diet 

 which had become so monotonous in the days 

 of their earl\- wanderings. The stor\% so vividly 

 told in the litjok of Exodus, is, of course, 

 familiar to all. 



The quail la_\-s from nine to fifteen eggs 

 in a feeble apolog\- for a nest. It is said that 

 the curious metallic note " clic-lic-lic " gave 

 origin to the Spanish Castanet, for these birds 

 are mucli esteemed in Spain, being kept in 

 cages for the pleasure their notes aft'ord. 



There are five or si.x other species of quail 

 closely related to the above. The British bird 

 enjoj's an enormous range, being found almost 

 everj-whcre in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The 

 species in number — are generally regarded as 



so-called Amp:ric.\X Or.MLS 

 belonging to a distinct group. 



That ornament to all rural scenery, the Phe.VSAXT, is said to ha\e been introduced from 

 the banks of the river Phasis, in Colchis, Transcaucasia, b_\' the Romans — at least, the original 

 form of pheasant was. Late during the eighteenth centur\' a Japanese and a Chinese form 

 were introduced, and these have freely interbred \\ith the original form, so that pure bred 

 specimens of an}' of the three are rare. 



The speed of a pheasant on the wing in full flight has been estimated at thirty-eight 

 miles an hour. C)ccasionally pheasants will take to the water, and are said to swim well. 



The number of pheasants reared by hand at the present da}' is prodigious. In 1883, 

 Professor Newton tells us, 134,000 pheasants' 

 ecss were sold from one estate in Norfolk, while 

 9,700 full}' grown birds were killed upon it. In 

 olden times pheasants were taken in snares or 

 nets, by hawking, and by the cross-bow ; but on 

 the introduction of guns these methods were 

 superseded. 



Yet another form of pheasant has been in- 

 troduced here of late years. This is Reeves's 

 PllE.\s.\XT, a truly magnificent bird, with a tail 

 fully 5 feet long in adult males. These birds 

 also interbreetl with the more common forms, 

 "but not freel}'. 



Beautiful as these pheasants undoubtedly 

 are, they are eclipsed by many of their relatives. 

 Among the most noteworthy of these we may 

 notice the magnificent Tr.\GOPANS. Rich in 

 coloration of the feathers, these birds have w.rp*, c.r<w] [k-,,;,^,,-, a.b. 



added an additional feature in brilliantly coloured BROWN LEGHORN COCK 



areas of bare skin on the head and neck, which ^.^^.^ ^,.^^^ ^^^ ^^„ ^^,.,^,^j ^^ ^„„,.„^ ^^,.„ i,^^„^„, „^„^ 



are furthermore rendered conspicuous by being Gome-fowl 



