G A L L I N I D JE. 



557 



the other, like steps ; the fifth and sixth are the 

 longest in the wings, which are, consequently very 

 much rounded. They are also short, so that the 

 birds are incapable of an extended flight. The naked 

 part of the throat is furnished with a sort of wattle, 

 the middle part of which is marked with warts or 

 tubercles. The tarsi are covered with reticulated 

 scales ; and this, as well as the peculiar form of the 

 bill, point them out as ground birds, inhabiting moist 

 places and the margins of the waters. Their colours 

 are subject to great variations, in different birds, and 

 in the same bird, in different ages and at different 

 seasons, so that it is exceedingly difficult to deter- 

 mine species and varieties, as difficult indeed as in 

 tbe case of the common cock ; and it is possible that 

 the circumstance of having or wanting a crest may 

 not form a specific difference in the one genus any 

 more than it does in the other. When these birds 

 take to the wing, their flight is near the ground, ou 

 the level, and of brief continuance. In the extensive 

 and dense forests of those places in which they in- 

 habit, they perch on the inclined branches of trees, 

 and run so quickly by the aid of their short wings, 

 that a man cannot overtake them. They pass the 

 day concealed in thickets ; but they are astir morn- 

 ing and evening, when they resort to the outskirts of 

 the forests, without, however, entering into the open 

 plains, or other exposed situations. They are easily 

 reconciled to domestication ; and they subsist on 

 grains and fruits like the rest of the gallinaceous 

 birds. But when they swallow Indian corn, they 

 void grains entire. They may be reared with profit 

 in the poultry yard, for their flesh is excellent ; but 

 they are averse to close confinement, and should be 

 allowed to be much in the open air. They utter, in 

 a shrill, but subdued, and nasal tone, the sound of 

 pee. They construct nests of small twigs, which 

 they carefully conceal in a close bush or tree neitr 

 the ground. The eggs are generally about eight in 

 number. They live in pairs, and also in families, 

 which appear very much attached to each other, for 

 if there are several found in a tree, they will remain 

 till they are all shot one by one. When they perch, 

 or otherwise repose, they support the breast on the 

 folded legs. We shall briefly notice the leadingspecies. 

 The Crested Gitan (P. cristata). This species 

 was long confounded with the turkeys, with which it 

 has hardly any character in common, except that both 

 are gallinaceous birds. It has also sometimes been 

 called a peacock, to which it has if possible still less 

 resemblance. Buffon gave it the name of yacou, 

 which we believe is what it is called by the Abori- 

 gines of Brazil, while gnan or quan is its native name 

 in some other parts of South America. The upper 

 parts are blackish green, with metallic reflections of 

 olive and bronze colour. The rump and tail-coverts 

 are deep red. A black streak extends from the 

 angle of the lower mandible to the ear. The cheeks 

 are in great part naked and of a bright red colour. 

 There is a small crest of loose feathers on the hind 

 part of the head ; and a large pendent wattle hangs 

 from the gorge which is of a fine red colour, and 

 capable of being elongated and contracted according 

 as the bird is excited or not. This appendage is 

 nearly double the size of that on the throat of the 

 turkey ; but the bird has the power of withdrawing 

 it so completely, that it scarcely differs from the 

 naked skin of that part to which it is attached. The 

 breast is of an olive colour, and the rest of the under 



parts reddish, the margins of the feathers on both 

 being white. The bill is black at the tip and blue 

 at the base, the naked skin round the eyes violet, 

 the iris orange, and the feet are ash-coloured. The 

 length of the full grown male is about two feet and a 

 half. The female is rather smaller, less bright in the 

 colours, and has the feathers on the head, the crest, 

 and the scapulars, bordered with white. The young 

 birds have the head and neck completely covered 

 with reddish downy feathers ; three stripes of 

 maroon brown also of downy appearance, one large 

 one along the head and upper part of the neck, and a 

 smaller on each side. The upper parts are deep red 

 clouded with paler, and the under parts are reddish 

 white. In this stage of its growth it has been 

 described as a separate species ; but it is now well 

 ascertained to be only the young of this one. 



The male in this species, as is the case in many 

 others of the Alectoridce, has a flexure of the wind- 

 pipe. After having accompanied the gullet to the 

 anterior part of the sternum, the wind pipe, or trachea, 

 rises over the right pectoral muscle ; but it advances 

 only two inches in that direction and repasses over 

 the same muscle, and reaching along the crest of the 

 sternum, enters the cavity of the thorax and proceeds 

 toward the lungs. The rings of cartilage in this 

 organ are separated by pretty broad membranes ; and 

 toward the larynx it opens like a funnel. The larynx 

 is attached to the process of the ot hyo'idet, or bone of 

 the tongue, and consequently it is connected with 

 that organ, as in the pauxi, the turkey, and the 

 peacock, while in the common cock, the curassow, 

 and the different species of pheasants, the larynx is 

 not supported by the bone of the tongue, but merely 

 attached to the membranes of the gullet. This 

 difference of structure in the upper larynx of the 

 trachea has a considerable influence on the intonation 

 of voice in the birds ; as those which have it fixed to 

 the tongue, are incapable of the same flexibility and 

 clearness of utterance as those which have it free. 

 It must be understood, however, hat in birds, the 

 lower or bronchial larynx is the real organ of voice, 

 that is the organ at which the sound they make 

 originates ; though of course this original sound is 

 modified by the nature of the tube through which it 

 passes, and also by that of the upper orifice from 

 which it is communicated to the air and rendered 

 audible. A convoluted trachea gives depth to the 

 note of birds, in the same manner as a long tube 

 gives depth to any other wind instrument ; and it is 

 also evident that one which is capable of much 

 motion in its several parts, or has one part wider 

 than another, must roughen the sound, and in this bird 

 the last effect is further increased by the upper 

 larynx and surrounding parts being covered by 

 tubercles. We are not, however, to suppose that the 

 peculiar structure of the trachea in these birds is con- 

 fined to the mere modulation of the sounds which 

 they utter ; for these are but a very secondary part 

 of their economy. But they inhabit regions which 

 are seasonably flooded to a very great extent ; and 

 though their haunts are not then explorable, it is 

 highly probable that they feed under water, in the 

 shallows, for as they are ground feeders, they cannot 

 well feed anywhere else at those times ; and there- 

 fore the convoluted and extended trachea in them 

 may enable them to keep the head longer immersed, 

 just as it does in those dabbling birds which have it 

 formed in this manner. But the wilds of the forests 



