—— eee a a ee Ce es 
———— 
i le 
CRACIDH, GUANS. MELEAGRID®, TURKEYS.—GEN. 176, 177. 231 
with a slender aigrette on the head, like a peacock’s. The naturalized English 
pheasant, P. colchicus, introduced into Britain prior to A. D. 1056, is the type of 
Phasianus, in which the tail feathers are very long and narrow; in one species, 
P. reevesii, the tail is said to attain a length of six feet. The golden and 
Amherstian pheasants, Chrysolophus pictus and amherstie, are singularly beautiful, 
eyen for this group. The other genera are Crossoptilon and Pucrasia. New species 
are still coming to light. 
Family CRACIDA. Curassows. Guans. 
This type is peculiar to America, where it may be considered to represent the Mega- 
podide, though differing so much in habit and general appearance. The affinities 
of the two are indicated above, and some essential characters noted. According to 
the latest authority on the family, Messrs. Sclater and Salvin, it is divisible into 
three subfamilies: Cracine, curassows and hoccos, with four genera and 
twelve species; Oreophasine, with a single species, Oreophasis derbianus, and the 
Subfamily PENELOPIN, Guans, 
with seven genera and thirty-nine species, one of which reaches our border. 
176. Genus ORTALIDA Merrem. 
Texan Guan. Chiacalaca. Head crested, its sides, and strips on the 
chin, naked, but no wattles; tarsi naked, scutellate ; hind toe insistent, about 
4 the middle toe; tail graduated, longer than the wings, of 12 feathers. 
Length nearly 2 feet; wing 84 inches; tail 11; tarsus 2§; middle toe the 
same. Dark olivaceous, paler and tinged with brownish-yellow below, 
plumbeous on the head; tail green, tipped with white except on the middle 
pair of feathers; bill and feet plumbeous. Mexico, to Texas. O. vetula 
Lawre., Ann. Lyc. N. Y. 1851, 116; O. poliocephala Cass., Ill. 267, pl. 44; 
UCT Dsl eee es sys). i shew ts. si ~ | WP UAL 
Family MELEAGRIDA. Turkeys. 
Head and upper neck naked, carunculate; in our species with a dewlap and 
erectile process. Tarsi naked, scutellate before and behind, spurred in the @. 
Tail broad, rounded, of 14-18 feathers. Plumage compact, lustrous ; in our species 
with a tuft of hair-like feathers on the breast. One genus, two species. MV. ocella- 
tus is a very beautiful species of Central America. 
- 
177. Genus MELEAGRIS Linneus. 
Turkey. Upper-tail coverts chestnut, with paler or whitish tips; tail 
feathers tipped with brownish-yellow or whitish ; 3-4 feet long, ete. Wild 
in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and southward; domesticated elsewhere. 
There is reason to believe that the Mexican bird is the original of the 
domestic race; it was upon this form, imported into Europe, that Linneus 
imposed the name gallopavo (Fn. Suec. No. 198; Syst. Nat. i, 1766, 268), 
which has generally been applied to the following feral variety. M. 
