G A L L I N I D M. 



the common species ; but there is at each side of that 

 mandible a longitudinal fold, forming a sort of small 

 appendage ; the throat, the upper part of the neck, and 

 the hind portion of the head are denuded of feathers, 

 and the naked skin is deep blue on the latter part and 

 sides of the neck ; it is greyish blue in the region of 

 the ears ; and it assumes a crimson tint toward the fore 

 part of the neck. This species gets its name from a 

 crest of feathers on the upper part of the head : the 

 plumage is black, powdered over with very small 

 spots of bluish white bordered with bright blue ; the 

 neck and breast are black, and the crest on the top 

 of the head is also black, and composed of downv 

 feathers with their webs quite disunited : the wing- 

 coverts are blackish brown, some of the secondaries 

 being marked with four white rays, and others having 

 their exterior webs bordered with black : the beak 

 is ash colour, the cere bluish and smooth, and the 

 naked membrane on the head and neck is thinly scat- 

 tered with very delicate hairs. The length of the 

 male bird is about eighteen inches. 



This species is represented as inhabiting the hottest 

 parts of the interior of western Africa, where they are 

 said to be found in very large flocks upon the margins 

 of the sandy deserts. One of these flocks consists of 

 some hundreds, made up of many united broods ; for 

 it appears that these birds, though when domesticated 

 they do not agree well with the other gallinidae, are 

 yet very sociable with each other. Their numbers 

 are so great that they make the deserts re-echo with 

 their discordant cries. Towards the rising of the 

 sun and close of day their piercing cries are most 

 frequently heard : the manners of these birds are like 

 those of the last and the following species, and they 

 equally feed on all kinds of grains, worms, insects, 

 and berries. 



The mitred Guinea fowl is distinguished from the 

 others by a horny crest or casque on the top of the 

 head. Its manners and habits are similar to those of 

 the common Guinea fowl ; its cry differs very little 

 from that of that bird, and is equally discordant and 

 continuous ; in size it is alike, measuring twenty-one 

 inches ; its casque rises about an inch and a half above 

 the top of the head, in the adult state ; but in the 

 young birds it is less curved backwards, and less an- 

 gular. There are no distinct wattles in this species, 

 nor any fleshy appendage to the lower mandible, but 

 merely two slight folds of skin, one directed from 

 near the eye toward the gape, and the other from the 

 same point down the side of the neck ; these, how- 

 ever, are but little produced, and therefore they are 

 not very conspicuous. This species or variety has 

 been found in the island of Madagascar, and it is 

 pretty generally distributed over the continent of 

 Africa, at least such is the opinion of naturalists. 



We believe that we have now enumerated all the 

 principal species, and most of the leading varieties of 

 the gallinidae of the eastern world, which may be con- 

 sidered as having their native localities confined to the 

 southward of the central mountains of Asia, and the 

 Mediterranean. They form as it were a southern 

 division of the order in this hemisphere ; there is also 

 what may be regarded as forming, in a geographical 

 point of view, a middle latitude division, which are 

 found in the wild state, in the same localities as one 

 or another of those which have been described, and 

 also in higher latitudes than any of the others are met 

 with in a state of nature ; but before we advert to 

 these, it will be necessary very shortly to notice the 



southern division of those which inhabit the American 

 continent, though from what we have already remarked 

 in the articles ALECTOIUD.E and CUKASSOW, we 

 may confine our present notice to a mere enumeration 

 of the species ; they all belong to the family 



ALECTORIDA: ; and fall under the following di- 

 visions : 



Ourax, the pauxi. These birds are inhabitants of 

 the warmer parts of tropical America. They are 

 large birds, and when in a state of nature and undis- 

 turbed by human intrusion, they are very tame, on 

 which account Buffon, and some others, have most in- 

 correctly brought a charge of stupidity against the birds. 

 This is very incorrect ; for though they are birds of 

 gentle manners, very easily tamed, and capable of 

 much attachment, when in a state of domestication, 

 they are most attentive to their young ; and although 

 in the openings of the wild woods they are quite un- 

 suspicious, and allow sportsmen readily to get within 

 shot of them, yet, when the neighbourhood becomes 

 peopled, they become shy. 



The male bird of this species measures about two 

 feet ten inches in length, and in size and weisrht it 

 very much resembles the domestic turkey. It has 

 the bill very short and stout, and considerably hooked. 

 This bill is covered with a membrane at the base, 

 which extends a considerable way up the forehead, 

 and is met by soft and tufted velvety feathers. In 

 this naked membrane, immediately at the base of the 

 bill, there is a tubercle, of an oval shape, about the 

 same size as the bird's head. This tubercle is of a 

 bright blue colour, and of the hardness of stone, on 

 which account the French give them the name of 

 the " stone birds." (Oiseaux a pierre.) 



The species to which we allude (for there are more 

 than one), is the Crax pauxi of Linnaeus. According 

 to the accounts given by those who have good op- 

 portunities of observing, this bird nestles on the 

 ground, and leads about its young, and calls them to 

 it by a cry, much in the same manner as the ph^a- 

 sants. At first the young live on insects, and tht-n, 

 when they grow large, on fruits, grains, and, in fact, 

 on every thing on which poultry can be fed. When in 

 a state of domestication, and she has become well ac- 

 customed to the climate, the female brings up her little 

 ones extremely well ; but it often occurs that great 

 quantity of the eggs are abortive, which proceeds 

 from not giving to these birds sufficient liberty. By 

 fastening their wings, and leaving them a large space, 

 shaded on one side, the broods will thrive extremely 

 well. The eggs are white, and about the size of those 

 of the turkey. The hen turkey may be employed 

 both to hatch these eggs and educate the young, as 

 the time of incubation is the same with both birds. 

 The little ones are covered with a brown down, and 

 the globe which should surmount the head is not ap- 

 parent at this early age. Alter the first moulting it 

 shows itself, by a small tubercle, which increases in 

 proportion as the bird advances in age. Both the 

 male and female are provided alike with this appen- 

 dage, but, in the latter, it is somewhat smaller. The 

 globular excrescence which we have mentioned as 

 adhering to the base of the upper mandible, is of a 

 bony texture in the adult birds, and ramified over 

 with grooves. The interior is composed of small 

 cells, which the bird appears to have the power of 

 filling with air through an opening in the interior of 

 the upper mandible ; tnough what purpose this curi- 

 ous appendage answers in the economy of the birds 



