170 



GENUS GALLUS, BRISSOX. 



Modern ornithologists have properly separated 

 the birds generally known under the title of Cocks, 

 from the Pheasants, with which they were formerly 

 united, and have restored to them Brisson's more an- 

 cient title of Gallus. Thus restricted, they are dis- 

 tinguished from the pheasants, by the crown of the 

 head being naked, and the skin being raised into a 

 fleshy elongation, called the comb, assuming different 

 forms in different species, and by the base of the 

 lower mandibles having fleshy lobes or wattles, by 

 the tail being generally carried erect, composed of 

 two planes folded together at a sharp angle, and 

 in the males having the centre feathers elongated, 

 and falling gracefully over the others. The feathers 

 of the neck, and lower part of the back and tail-co- 

 verts, assume a particular form, and are either long and 

 hackled or truncated ; in either state they are very 

 amply supplied. They are all natives of India and 

 her islands, frequenting the forest and jungle. They 

 are polygamous, and very pugnacious regarding their 

 females, proclaiming their victory and prowess with 

 a loud and piercing voice. The plumage of the 

 males is brilliant, of the female dull and unobtrusive, 

 and there is often a considerable disparity in size. 



