RASORES. 



FOURTH FAMILY. PHEASANTS. 



Phasianidtz, (Gr. yaaiavdg, phasianos, a pheasant, i. e., a bird 

 from the river Phasis, in Colchis.) 



Sub-family Pavonince, (Lat. pavo, a peacock,) sometimes 

 ranked as a family, and so presented on the Chart. 



This extensive family includes birds of a large size and mag 

 nificent plumage ; the flesh of all of them is in good esteem. 

 They have an arched beak, and the nostril is covered with a 

 naked and horny scale. The wings are characteristic of the 

 order, in being incapable of rapid or long-sustained flight. The 

 feet are large and powerful ; the tarsi naked, covered in front 

 with large plates, or scales, and have one or more curved and 

 pointed spurs; the claws are slightly curved, and obtuse at the 

 point; the hind toe is placed higher up on the tarsus than the 

 three front ones, so that, in walking, its tip alone reaches the 

 surface. The tail consists of eighteen feathers, which, in all, are 

 developed well, and sometimes in an extraordinary manner; the 

 tail coverts are also, at times, greatly lengthened. The males 

 generally are of superior size and magnificence to the females, 

 shining with rich, but not, usually, showy hues, reflecting the 

 refulgence of precious stones or polished metal. Many, par- 

 ticularly the males, are ornamented with wattles, combs, or 

 feathery crests. The most gorgeous species are found in the 

 warmer regions of Eastern and Southern Asia. 



Europeans date back their possession of the Pheasant twelve 

 centuries before the Christian Era. From the most ancient 

 time the Peacock has been a domesticated bird, as the references 

 to it made by the earliest Greek poets, very clearly show. 



The COMMON PEACOCK, (Pavo cristatus,) was regularly im 

 ported from the East in the fleets of Solomon ; and its remarka 

 ble beauty was referred to at a period still more ancient, (Job 

 xxxix, 13.) 



The feathers of this bird do not constitute its tail ; they begin 

 to grow far up on the back, so that, when erected and spread, 

 i scarcely more than the head and neck of the bird appear in front 

 of them. The true tail is situated beneath, being concealed by 

 these, and consists of eighteen brown feathers, about six inches 

 long. Immense flocks of these birds, identical with the domestic 

 races, are found in the forests of India, seeming to cover them 

 with their beautiful plumage. The flesh of the Peacock, when 

 not old, is juicy and savory, but is not eaten now so much as in 



