444 GALLINACEOUS BIEDS. 



mau. This is better explained by the fact that the time of moult- 

 ing is for this, as for all other birds, a period of sickness ; they 

 consequently retire into solitude, to find there the calm and tran- 

 quillity which their critical state demands. The Wild Peahen lays 

 from twenty to thirty eggs in a hole hollowed out in the ground. She 

 is much less fruitful in the Domestic state. She takes the greatest 

 care to hide her nest from the searching eye of the male, which 

 breaks the eggs whenever he finds them. Incubation lasts from 

 twenty-seven to thirty days. The young follow their mother from 

 their birth ; at six months they are reputed adult, and attain 

 their full development at three years. The Peahen, like the hen 

 Pheasant and the Common Hen, adopts the plumage of the male 

 when age has rendered her unfruitful, or when, by a premature 

 atrophy, her eggs have become sterile. The Peacock lives from 

 twenty-five to thirty years ; some authors have wrongly attributed 

 to them the longevity of a century. 



The PoLYPLECTRONS {DlplectTon, Yieillot) owe their name to the 

 superabundance of spurs with which they are armed ; the males 

 always possess two, sometimes three. The plumage of these birds, 

 like that of Peacocks, is sprinkled with glittering ocellations ; but 

 their tails are shorter, and not susceptible of expansion. There 

 are three or four varieties known, which inhabit India, China, 

 and the isles of Sumatra and Borneo. Their manners have not 

 yet been studied. 



Impeyan Pheasants are little better known than the Poly- 

 plectrons. They prefer cold climates, which sufficiently accounts 

 for their predilection for the elevated ridges of the Himalayas. 

 No one has as yet succeeded in acclimating them in Europe. 

 This is one of the most brilliant Gallinaceans ; its plumage, 

 bedizened with the most lively colours, has gained for it in India 

 a very significant name — that of the " Golden Bird." 



Under the name of Alectors (from the Greek dXeKxwp), Cuvier 

 has united a certain number of American birds bearing some 

 resemblance 1o the Cock, and has divided them into several 

 varieties : the Hoccos, Pauxis, Penelopes, Parraquas, and Hoazins. 



Hoccos are analogous in form and size to Turkeys, of which 

 they are the rejDresentatives in their habitat. Central America, 

 Guiana, and Brazil. Deprived of spurs, they have a large tuft 



