I \ I. 



T A I. 



According to Vauquelin, lamellar talc coiuwt* of 

 ..... 



V, :,-..' 



. 



on .... 

 er ..... 



100- 

 lite, and other msgnesian mincrali arc 



nearl-. uuca, aiul they uc mineralogists 



. s of the none substai 



TAI.K.C \I.I \ Mr. ( K day makes the M'gapo- 

 ilinur tlir third and lost subfamily of his 7'u/ui< 



in. . 



The MfffajxHlinifr comprise the following genera: 

 -. Alffiurn, I-ath. ; Less. ; 



hrturiix. S 



Gaim. [Mw;\iMiitu>.K : CK\<-II>.K, vol. viii., p. I:U 

 titet f J. Gcotl'r. : .\ti-iinrn, Shaw (Parkintoniu*. B< 

 Me filnli ii^. \\-Asl. [M.tiM-Kv]; .ll,-rt/ii-!nt, Less. (nee 



('KM inf.. \ol. viii., p. 133J. 



Ue proceed in this article to notice tlio genera 7W#- 

 jfu/Ai. />///</, anil .1/'i'<i/xK/ii/*, the natural history of 

 vvhici ly with legarxl to their habits and nidifica- 



tion. ha* lately been satisfactorily made out. 

 1 first of 



Talcgalla. 



,-rif Chiirurlfr. Bill very robust, very thick, one- 

 third of the length of the head compressed" above, with 

 the upper mandible convex ; nostrils basal. lateral, oval- 

 oblong. pierced in a large membrane : lower mandible 

 less high but wider than the upper, nearly straiirlit below. 

 with smooth edges, the branches widened at the base, and 

 that width filled up by a feathered membrane : checks, 

 entirely naked : head and neek furnished with feathers 

 with simple barbnlc-. Wings rounded, moderate, th 

 quill very short, the seeond rather longer, the third longest 

 of all, tlie fourth and fifth diminishing in length alter the 

 third. Tail rather long, rounded : tarsi rather robust, mo- 

 derately long. furni-hcd with lai_rc -cutclla in fiout : toes 

 rather lonir, the middle longest, the external shortest ; the 

 three front toes furnished al their origin with a membra- 

 nous border, which is widest between the external and 

 middle toes; claws convex, flattened below, slightly 

 curved and moderately robust ; the hind-toe long, resting 

 entirely on the ground, and furnished with an equally 

 robust claw. (Lesson.) 



Hd nj tiot ofTal<irn. (OooU.) 



Example. Tnlex<ill.i hitli 



Latham, in In / Hint's Mil. i 



d and figured this binl under the name of th- 

 /'/ I'ultiirr ; but. . lie. in the 



tenth \olnnie, placed it among the {iallinaeeous Minis, 

 with the gene; turn, whirl) hail been pre- 



viously employed to designate a group of Fly 



M. Lesson places the genus at the end of the I'hatia- 

 nulf. 



Mr. Swainson. in his I' / (vol. i., 



1836), treating of the I'lilturi'lrr. notice^ 1: 

 under the name ol the- New Holland Vulture, 

 like a lasorial bird, that sunn- authors ha. 

 ha%ing M'CD a .preimen a~ tu what on ; \ be- 



longed. So eompli ' 



I Iliu rare and extras: 



of that type whii-h it is to repre.-cnt in its own Ihnnlx. 

 that it hn- clashed I 



nur.iof the name Continent ; and it must I- I that 



if clear n. IP i ptiontol the diH'erence betw, 



affinity are 



the two bird* are for: 



but, then, so are th. 



bird not much bigger than a robin. u'enera, in 



short, are rema 



nig and slight ly curved claw-. 

 length, or i 

 is by - 



: those unnatural combinations which > 

 founding our notions of classification 



tting to look at the full cou-eijiu-n. 



i operatio 



this the only peculiarity of the New Holland Vul' 

 for. unlike all others of its family, it possesses 

 feathers, iii its tail. -An examination of the bill,' Mr. 



Swamson gives a cut of it. 'which i 



joined with in.iiu other considerations, shows that all 

 these are but an: 



real affinities of the bird are in tin- en 

 of which it forms the rasorial type. A ], 

 of th:- Milture. now 1. 



Allan Cunningham in the 

 Ijind is to speak of r 



examination.' In the synopsis, to M 

 volume (1837), we find it in the family I'ulturnltr. 

 the name of (\ithrtunix which cannot b, 

 tween A"-'. 'j.ltr-.ii ami (iyixftn- 

 ' 



type of the 1'iilturiila-. And yet it is no bird of p. 

 all. Latham, in his tenth volume, and Lesson 

 in considering it a rasorial spec, 



fJould. to whom we are indebted for a full and 

 ictory account of the habits of this extraon! 

 '.i which we shall presently advert, n: 

 i all the facts that have it will 



be i \ ident that its natural situation is among tli< 

 and that it forms one of a great family of birds peculiar to 



alia and the Indian Islands, of which M 

 forms a part ; and in confirmation of this MCW I IUM\ 

 that the sternum has the two deep cniaiTinatiun- -o truly 

 characteristic of the (inllinnrrrr : at all . 

 way allied to the I'liltnridtr. and is ; 

 Irom M'-inirn.' It seems to us that 'l\il 

 may be considered, in a degree, as the n 

 the turkey in Australia. 



Description. Adult mulf : whole of the upp. 

 wiiiL's, and tail, blackish-brown: the feathers of the 

 surface blackish-brown at the base, beo.mini; silver-, 

 at the tip ; skin of the head and neck deep pink-red, thinly 

 sprinkled with short hair-like blackish-brown 

 wattle bright yellow, tinged with red where it mutes with 

 the red of the neck; lull black; irides and feet brown. 



' a fourth less than the male in size, but 

 une in colour as to render a separate de- 

 scription unnecessary. She also possesses the wattle, but 

 not to so v dd.) 



Size about that of a turkey. 



Mr. Gould gives the following synonyms:- -\.-tr !f',//,ni,l 

 {'nl tun-. Lath. : gcr, 



.'. !'. ' ".Hid J'ulliirf, C,,//i, t,,nn 



S. : L. n. .lamcson : Uriah Turhfy of 



"f the ab.' 'lie Namoi. 



//'' -Mr. Gould dc-. 



hitlniHii.M the II it!l,-J , bird, 



.illy moving about in small co 

 tlie in .mil. liki- 



that tribe, as \. .]. \Vheii 



tuiiii'd. he .states thai it rcadilv eludes jMirsiilt b, 

 facility with which it runs through the tangled brush. It 

 hard pressed, or where rushed upon I iuv, 



the native dog. the whole company spring upon the I. 

 most bough of some neiirhhoming tree. and. bv n si,, 

 slim of leaps from hianch to 1, ml t'o the 



and cither perch there or fly o If to allot! 



'..i to'the branches of tree, ns a 



shelter from the sun in the middle ]y, a habit 



which Mr. Gould note .itlv tending lo 'then 



'ii : for th .,1,,,. 



and the birds, like ' will 



allow a succession of .-ho 1 ,1 the\ are all 



I do-.vu. 



Hut the most reiiaikab' .. j||, 



its mditication. 



