588 



GALLINID.E. 



in tropical America are not very explorable at any 

 season, and when flooded they are forbidden grounds, 

 so that we have no means of knowing the conduct of 

 the ground-feeding inhabitants at those times, farther 

 than by analogy^ and the analogy is rather loose, as 

 no other countries have exactly the same physical 

 characters. 



The Whitting or Hissing Gwn (P. pipile) varies 

 more in colour than even the former one, and there- 

 fore descriptions of it founded on colour are apt 

 to be more contradictory. The upper parts are black 

 with metallic reflections of purple and violet. The 

 nape is furnished with a crest of long thread-like 

 feathers, which are white with black shafts. There is 

 a large white band on each side of the neck. The 

 greater and middle coverts of the wings are white 

 with black tips and shafts. The under parts are 

 black with some streaks of white on the breast. 

 There is a small naked space on the cheek of a blue 

 colour, and the pendent wattle on the throat' is also 

 blue. The quills of the wings are black with metallic 

 reflections ; the feet are red, and the bill bluish at 

 the base and black at the tip. The full grown male 

 measures about twenty-eight inches. The female is 

 rather smaller in size, and less bright in the colours ; 

 and has the feathers of the crest mottled with black 

 and white. The young are of a maroon brown 

 colour, with the naked space round the eyes leaden 

 grey. The feathers in the crest are shorter than in 

 the mature birds, and also brown. 



This species ranges from Guiana to Paraguay, and 

 from the base of the Andes to the shores of Brazil ; 

 and in a bird extending over so wide a territory, we 

 may expect considerable climatal differences. Ac- 

 cordingly individuals have been mentioned as occur- 

 ring in Brazil, in which the webs of the quills do not 

 extend the full length of the shafts, but leave a 

 portion of these naked like a spine. Some individuals 

 have been kept in confinement in Europe, in which 

 state they were very quiet and inoffensive birds. 

 The sound emitted by this one is a sort of hissing 

 whistle, not nearly so loud or harsh as that of the 

 former species ; and the authorities state that the 

 trachea goes straight to the lungs without any con- 

 volution. 



Tlie Marail Guan (P. marail). This species is 

 called the green pheasant in Guiana. It is a well 

 distinguished species, and remarkable for the brilliant 

 metallic lustre of its plumage. The upper part is 

 rich blackish green ; the crest, which is large and 

 tufted, is very bright green, with white margins to 

 the feathers ; and there is also a band of small silky 

 feathers of a bright green colour, that extends from 

 the lower mandible at the gape to the eyes, and 

 these feathers have white margins as well as those of 

 the crest. The nape, the upper part of the neck, and 

 the breast are also bright green, with white margins 

 to the feathers. The coverts of the wings are 

 iridescent green, and the quills "black. The under 

 parts, the belly and the under tail-coverts are 

 brownish fawn colour ; the bill black, and the naked 

 parts on the sides of the neck and the appendage to 

 the throat are very clear bright red, thinly scattered 

 over with black hairs. The feet are reddish and the 

 claws black. It is smaller than the other species, 

 being only about twenty-six inches in length when 

 full grown. The colours of the female are less 

 brilliant than those of the male, and her whole 

 plumage has a slight reddish tinge. The young in 



the early stage are covered all over with downy 

 feathers of a russet colour. 



According to Sonnini this species of guan is very 

 easily tamed, and so familiar in a state of domestica- 

 tion, as to be absolutely troublesome. It soon knows 

 those people who are about it and kind to it ; and it 

 is so fond of being caressed that it runs about their 

 feet, and is in danger of getting trampled on, or 

 tumbling them down in their attempts to avoid it. 

 It utters cries of persuasion similar to those uttered 

 by a common hen when she collects her chickens. 

 When in a state of nature it is a quiet and gentle 

 bird, frequenting solitary places, and feeding chiefly 

 upon wild fruits. In their general habits they almost 

 constantly perch upon trees, though they feed on 

 the ground. Their short and hollow wings are ill 

 adapted for forward flight, which they make with 

 even more labour and noise than a common barn 

 door fowl ; but they leap to their perches or from 

 them with considerable ease and agility, and they 

 run very swiftly, making use of their half expanded 

 wings to row them along, as is the case with ostriches. 

 In many of their habits they approach more nearly 

 to the jungle fowl of India than to any other of the 

 native gallinidae of South America. In many of their 

 habits, as well as in their generic characters, they 

 differ from these. The males are monogamous, and 

 show no disposition to fight or quarrel with each 

 other, or indeed with any other creature. They 

 live generally in pairs, and shun the society not only 

 of all other birds, but of each other, except the pair 

 and the family during the first year. The female 

 makes her nest in trees, and the eggs vary from two 

 to five. In the morning they are very early birds, 

 and their cry is heard as the dawn is breaking ; but 

 though loud it is hoarse and disagreeable. During 

 the day, however, they are seldom heard, and in their 

 native haunts in the forests, they are very seldom 

 seen. 



The hoarse voice of this species appears to arise 

 from the convolutions of the trachea, which are some- 

 what different from those of the crested guan, and 

 approximate more to the wood-grouse and the spoon- 

 bill : the texture of the organ is nearly the same in 

 both, being composed of rings alternating with mem- 

 branous partitions ; it ascends along the neck as far 

 as the union of the coracoid bones, then it passes into 

 the interior on the left side of the gizzard, returns in 

 front of the left coracoid, as far as the furcal bone, at 

 its union with the sternum, where it returns back 

 again and proceeds to the lungs. The anterior part, 

 which extends forwards, has a peculiar inusde attached 

 to it, by which it is secured to the crest of the ster- 

 num and also to the pectoral muscles. 



Though the number of eggs in this species is less 

 than that of some of the others, they hatch twice in the 

 year, in December or January, when the rainy season 

 commences, and in May or June, when it is over. The 

 nests are carefully concealed in thick bushes ; and, 

 different from many of the gallinidae, the mother feeds 

 them for some time in the nest. This lasts for about 

 two weeks, by which time their feathers have begun 

 to sprout ; and the mother descends with them, and 

 tends and feeds them on the ground, until they are so 

 far fledged as to be able to perch. Their first food 

 consists of insects, small seeds, and fruits, for which 

 the parent bird scrapes the ground in the same man- 

 ner as the common hen ; she also calls them to her 

 by similar cries, and gathers them under her wings for 



