CHAP. XY1II.J 



BIKDS. 



345 



species which enters the Australian region as far as Celebes and 

 Timor, and another species (Gallus ceneus) as far as Flores, and 

 it is not improbable that these may have been introduced by man 

 and become wild. 



We have very little knowledge of the extinct forms of Gallinse, 

 but what we have assures us of their high antiquity, since we 

 find such distinct groups as the jungle-fowl, partridges, and 

 Pterodes, represented in Europe in the Miocene period ; while 

 the Turkey, then as now, appears to have been a special American 

 type. 



Order VLOPISTHOCOMI. 



FAMILY 93. OPISTHOCOMIDJE. (1 Genus, 1 Species.) 

 GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. 



The Hoazin (Opisihocomus cristatus) is the sole representative 

 of this family and of the order Opisthocomi. It inhabits the 

 eastern side of Equatorial America in Guiana and the Lower 

 Amazon; and at Para is called "Cigana" or gipsy. It is a 

 large, brown, long-legged, weakly-formed, and loosely -crested 

 bird, having such anomalies of structure that it is impossible 

 to class it along with any other family. It is one of those 

 survivors, which tell us of extinct groups, of whose past existence 

 we should otherwise, perhaps, remain for ever ignorant. 



Order VILACCIP1TRES. 



FAMILY 94. VULTUKID.E. (10 Genera, 25 'Species.) 

 GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. 



