C U R A S S O W. 



211 



which have strongly marked varieties of seasons, J 

 should be different from those of more temperate ' 

 climates, and also of the more elevated and exposed 

 places of the same climates. The gallinaceous birds 

 which are indigenous to the latter situations, gene- 

 rally squat and nestle on the ground during the night 

 as well as in nesting time ; while those of the tropical 

 forests are invariably perchcrs, have their wings short, 

 broad, hollow, and rounded at the extremities, and 

 their tails large and strong ; so that, though they are 

 not adapted for long flight, there are no birds which 

 get more quickly or more easily on the wing, or fly 

 more nearly in the perpendicular. This is necessary, 

 in consequence of the greater abundance of enemies 

 which these birds have on the ground than the birds 

 of open places ; and it is also necessary that they 

 should perch, because during the rains the ground is 

 often laid under water for several days. 



In a wild state the curassows inhabit the most 

 remote places of the forests, carefully shunning the 

 settlements of the colonists and the huts of the 

 natives ; but though they are retired they are so far 

 from being shy, that they fall an easy prey to the 

 sportsman. There are, comparatively speaking, few 

 birds of prey, in those close places, because there is 

 no scope for their wings ; and therefore the usual 

 safety of the curassow is gaining a branch. Thus 

 when the sportsman comes before a pack of them, for 

 they are sociable and live in considerable packs, he 

 can shoot as many as he chooses. 



Like the corresponding races of the east, these birds 

 seem to tell man in as plain language as nature can 

 speak to him, that the phices which they inhabit 

 were made for him to cultivate, and that they them- 

 selves were made to live with him in a state of domes- 

 tication. For, as soon as they are brought into the 

 farm-yard, they become as confiding as they are timid 

 when in a state of nature. They breed freely, have no 

 disposition to wander, fatten well, and are very valu- 

 able for the table, as well for the quality as the quan- 

 tity of their flesh. When in a state of nature, they 

 are not nearly so prolific as our domestic poultry, the 

 esrgs in a hatch being only from four to six ; but we 

 believe that in all the species there are two broods in 

 the vear. There are, however, no animals, the ferti- 

 lity "of which is so much affected by treatment as 

 domestic birds, more especially poultry; and the 

 number of eggs which a domestic hen will lay, even 

 in the cold countries of Europe, is far greater than 

 that which a wild hen of the very same species will 

 lay in the jungles of South-eastern Asia. As house- 

 hold poultry the present genus of birds are very 

 successfully cultivated in South America ; but the 

 attempts which have been made in Europe have not 

 been so successful ; so that the birds are rarely seen 

 except in single specimens in the collections ot exhi- 

 bitors. What the cause of the failure may be is not 

 very well known ; and it is rather singular that the 

 cultivation of them should fail, while the pullet and 

 pea-fowl of Asia, the Guinea-fowl of Africa, and the 

 Turkey of America, all thrive so well. We believe, 

 however, that there is something in the quickness of 

 the transition ; for the Asiatic and African birds have 

 come gradually, and were centuries on their march 

 from their native localities to the west of Europe. 

 The Turkey, though a much more northerly bird, was 

 at first exceedingly difficult to rear ; and, we believe, 

 that it is still the most tender chick in the poultry- 

 yard ; and it is natural to suppose that if a bird of the 



comparatively temperate parts of America is thus 

 delicate, one of the tropical parts must be much more 

 so. It is also probable that as, hitherto at least, those 

 who have visited the native abodes of these birds, 

 have had neither taste nor skill in natural history, we 

 may be ignorant of some circumstances which pre- 

 vent this very valuable addition from being made to 

 the birds of our farm-yards. The principal disease 

 which these birds have displayed in the attempts 

 to rear them in Europe, has been a sort of mortifica- 

 tion in the feet ; but whether that has been caused 

 by food or by locality has not been ascertained. In 

 a state of nature, the birds are found on ground both 

 hard and soft ; and they make their nests indiscrimi- 

 nately on or under hillocks, in rifts of the rocks, and 

 on the forks of thick branches of trees ; so that it is 

 not easy to draw any conclusion as to what sort of 

 locality would suit them best. Their history deserves 

 to be studied much more carefully than it has been, 

 and more with a view to domestic economy than to 

 mere systematic natural history. There are several 

 species, of the leading ones of which we shall give 

 a list ; and as each of them has either two or three 

 English names, or none, we shall give precedence to 

 the systematic ones. 



CRAX CARUNCULATA Wattled Curassow. This 

 species is found in Brazil. It is a large bird, from 

 two feet and a half to three feet in length. The 

 upper part black with green reflections, the belly 

 brownish, and the bill and feet black. The upper 

 mandible of the bill is much elevated, and furnished 

 at the base with a red membrane, which descends at 

 each side a little below the under line of the lower 

 mandible. It is from this that the bird gets its name. 



CRAX RUBRA Red Curassow. This is also a 

 ; Mexican species, if, indeed, it be a species, and not a 

 mere variety of the other. It is nearly of the same 

 size as the former, and almost the only difference 

 between them is in colour. The upper parts and the 

 breast are of a red colour, marked with darker spots 

 of the same ; the head and neck are white, with a 

 round black spot at the point of each feather ; the 

 feathers which form the crest are white with black 

 borders ; the under parts reddish ; and the bill and 



Kea dy assov. 



feet blackish ash. The young are mottied with white 



! and black, and reddish, and have the black and the 



white on the head and neck reversed ; the feathers of 



the crest straight, and the quills margined with white. 



CRAX ALECTOR Crested Curassow. This is the 



I species which is generally referred to as beine typical 



02 



