404 



The Living Animals of the World 



Photo by C. Rtid] 



[ Wishaie, N.S. 



RED COCHINS. 



The wings in the typical Cochins are so short as to be useless. 



migration may be gathered from Canon Tristram' s 

 statement that in Algeria, in April, he found 

 the ground covered with quails for an extent 

 of many acres at daybreak, where on the pre- 

 ceding afternoon not one was to be seen. These 

 are the birds which were so eagerly seized by 

 the Israelites as a welcome change in the diet 

 which had become so monotonous in the days 

 of their early wanderings. The story, so vividly 

 told in the Book of Exodus, is, of course, 

 familiar to all. 



The quail lays from nine to fifteen eggs 

 in a feeble apology for a nest. It is said that 

 the curious metallic note " clic-lic-lic " gave 

 origin to the Spanish castanet, for these birds 

 are much esteemed in Spain, being kept in 

 cages for the pleasure their notes afford. 



There are five or six other species of quail 

 closely related to the above. The British bird 

 enjoys an enormous range, being found almost 

 everywhere in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The 



so-called AMERICAN QUAILS some forty species in number are generally regarded as belonging 



to a distinct group. 



That ornament to all rural scenery, the PEEASANT, is said to have been introduced from 



the banks of the river Phasis, in Colchis, Transcaucasia, by the Romans at least, the original 



form of pheasant was. Late during the eighteenth century a Japanese and a Chinese form 



were introduced, and these have freely interbred with the original form, so that pure-bred 



specimens of any of the three are rare. 



The speed of a pheasant on the wing in full flight has been estimated at thirty-eight 



miles an hour. Occasionally pheasants will take to the water, and are said to swim well. 



The number of pheasants reared by hand at the present day is prodigious. In 1883, 



Professor Newton tells us, 134,000 pheasants' 

 eggs were sold from one estate in Norfolk, while 

 9,700 fully grown birds were killed upon it. In 

 olden times pheasants were taken in snares or 

 nets, by hawking, and by the cross-bow ; but on 

 the introduction of guns these methods were 

 superseded. 



Yet another form of pheasant has been 

 introduced into Britain of late years. This 

 is REEVES'S PHEASANT, a truly magnificent bird, 

 with a tail fully 5 feet long in adult males. 

 These birds also interbreed with the more 

 common forms, but not freely. 



Beautiful as these pheasants undoubtedly 

 are, they are eclipsed by many of their relatives. 

 Among the most noteworthy of these we may 

 notice the magnificent TRAGOPANS. Rich in 

 coloration of the feathers, these birds have 

 added an additional feature in brilliantly coloured 

 areas of bare skin on the head and neck, which 

 are furthermore rendered conspicuous by being 



Photo by C. Reid] [ Wiihaw, N.B. 



BROWN LEGHORN COCK. A 



This breed has been derived by crossing White Leghorns with Game- 

 fowl. 



