NATURAL HISTORY. 



559 



of a (lark brown onlj'. 'Hic tiiil 

 is composed of niuelcen fcatliers, 

 and that inserted in tlie centre is 

 tiie longest, the remaining nine 

 on each side gradually diminish. 

 The tail v.hen folcicd comes to a 

 very sharp point, and appears 

 pruportioiiably long, when com- 

 pared v\ ith the otlicr parts of the 

 body. In the act of flying, the 

 tail resembles that of the wild 

 pigeon, although (he motion of 

 the %\iRg5 is much like that of 

 the pheasant and- grouse. This 

 bird has four toes mi each foot, 

 of which the hindmost is the 

 shortest, and the kg is covered 

 with feathers about half the dis- 

 tance between the knee and foot. 

 "Wlicn the wing is expanded tiiere 

 arc wide openings between its 

 feathers, the plumage being too 

 narrow to fill up tiie \ac;'.ncy : 

 the wings are short in comparison 

 with those of the grouse or phea- 

 sant. The habits of this bird re- 

 seml^lo those of the gi'ousc, ex- 

 cepting tliat his food is that of 

 the leaf and buds of' the pulpy- 

 leafcd-thoru. Captain Lev.is did' 

 not remember to have seen this 

 bird but in the ncighljoinhuod of 

 that shrub, which tiu-y some- 

 times feed on, the jnickly pear. 

 The gi7zard is large, and much 

 less compressed and muscular 

 than in most fowls, and jjcrfectly 

 rcsexnbks a maw. ^^'h'rn this 

 bird flics he utters a cackling 

 sound, not milike that of tlie 

 dunghiil fowl. The flesh of the 

 cock of t!ic plains is dark, and 

 only tolerable in point of (hivour, 

 and is not so ])al;itablc cither as 

 that of the pheasant or grous:-. 

 Tlie feathers about the head arc 

 pointed and stiff and short, fine 

 and stiff about the ears j at the 



base of the beak several hairs are 

 to be seen. This bird is invariably 

 found in the plains. 



3. The pheasant, of which we 

 distinguish the la)'ge black and 

 white pheasant, the small speckled 

 pheasant, the small brown phea- 

 sant : 



1 . The large black and white 

 pheasant differs but little from 

 those of the United St.vte.s : the 

 brown it rather brig'.iter, and has 

 a more reddish tint. This bird 

 has eighteen feathers in the tail, 

 of about six inches in length. He 

 is also booted to the toes : the 

 two tufts of long black- feathers 

 on each side of the neck, so com- 

 mon in the m.ile of this species 

 inh.ibiting the Unit'^d states, are 

 no less observable in this phea- 

 sant : the feathers on the body 

 arc of a dark bro-.^-n, tipped with 

 white and black, irr wiiich mix*' 

 iurc the black pr^dominutes ; the 

 white are irreg'ulirly intermixed 

 with those of the black and daik 

 brown in every part, but ia 

 greater proportion aijout the neck, 

 breast, and belly : this mixture 

 makes this bird resemble nmel> 

 thut kind of (hmghill fowl, which 

 t'.ie h!)■.^scwi^•es of our coTuitry 

 call Domnrinickcr. On the breast 

 of some of this spccicsthe white 

 predominates : tiie tuffs on tlie 

 neck leave a space about two and 

 a hidf inches long, and one inch 

 in widtli, where no feathers grow, 

 though concealed by the plumage 

 c(mnccted with the higher and 

 under parts of the neck ; this 

 space enables them to contract or 

 dilate the feathers on the neck- 

 with more ease : the eye is dark, 

 the beak is black, curved, some- 

 what pointed, and the upper ex- 

 ceeds the under chnp : a narrow 



vermilion 



