Qt'rtt'cmarn cf ftnimattfr $atttrr. 253 



valuable birds we have belong to this order ; 

 Peacocks, Turkeys, Fowls, Pheasants, Par- 

 tridges, &c. being of the number. Their 

 bodies, for the most part, are large and 

 muscular ; their wings short ; and their toes 

 rough beneath, to enable them to scratch 

 the ground in search of worms, &c. Many 

 feed on grain and seeds, whilst others feed 

 on berries, but the greater portion subsist 

 likewise on insects. They are mostly poly- 

 gamous, building their rude nests, in retired 

 situations, on the bare ground. The females 

 of several species are extremely prolific, and 

 continue to lay eggs nearly all the year ; the 

 young follow the parent mother as soon as 

 hatched, and she continues to protect them 

 till they are fully grown. Some are easily 

 domesticated ; others remain in a wild state; 

 but the flesh of nearly all furnish a substan- 

 tial and wholesome food, while their plu- 

 mage serves for various domestic and orna- 

 mental purposes. In their proper alpha- 

 betical order the reader will find them 

 severally described. 



GALL-INSECT. (.Gallinsecta.) A fa- 

 mily of insects, of a small size, which live 

 upon trees or plants of various kinds. In 

 the larva state they have the appearance of 

 oval or round scales, closely attached to the 

 plant or bark of the tree they inhabit, and 

 exhibit no distinct external organs. If ob- 

 served in spring, their bodies are noticed 

 gradually to increase in size, ending in their 

 acquiring the appearance of a gall, being 

 either spherical, kidney-shaped.boat-shaped, 

 &c. The skin in some is entire and very 

 smooth ; in others it is incised, or offers 

 traces of segments. It is in this state that 

 the females are impregnated, shortly after 

 which they deposit their eggs, of which the 

 number is very great ; these they deposit 

 between the ventral surface of their bodies 

 and a layer of a cottony secretion. Their 

 bodies subsequently dry up and become a 

 solid cocoon, which covers the eggs ; others 

 envelope their eggs in a very abundant cot- 

 tony secretion, which equally defends them. 

 Many of them have been long celebrated for 

 the beautiful dyes they yield. A very curious 

 Gall constructed by a Homopterous insect, 

 of a genus allied to Aphis, has lately been 

 Imported from the East by Mr. Morson. 

 This, which is principally composed of gallic 

 acid and tannin, has been particularly de- 

 scribed in a late number of the Pharmaceu- 

 tical Journal. [See Coccus : KEKMES.] 



GALLINULE. (GalUnula. ) A genus of 



birds which frequent fresh waters, swimming 



and diving about, or running on land witli 



equal ease and swiftness. The common Gal- 



linule (Gallinula chl&ropus), called also the 



WATEH-HEK or MOOR-HEN, is about fourteen 



inches in length, from the tip of the beak to 



the end of the tail, and weighs from eleven to 



fourteen ounces. The bill is upwards of an 



inch long, of a greenish yellow at the tip, 



I and reddish towards the base ; whence a 



| kind of horny or membraneous substance 



i shields the forehead as far as the eyes : this 



I appendage to the bill is perfectly red in the 



breeding season ; at other times it varies or 



' fades into white. The head is small and 



I black, except a white spot under each eye : 

 the irides red : all the upper parts of the 

 i plumage dark shining olive green, inclining 

 ! to brown ; under parts dark hoary lead 

 gray : vent feathers black ; those on the 

 belly and the thighs tipped with dirty white: 

 the long loose feathers on the sides, which 

 hang over the upper part of the thighs, are 

 black, streaked with white ; the feathers 

 just beneath the tail are white ; and the 

 legs are dusky green. The toes are very 

 long, particularly the middle one ; their 

 under sides flat and broad, whereby it is 

 enabled to swim ; and, from this part of its 

 conformation, it may be regarded as the 

 bird which connects the web-footed aquatic 

 fowl with the fin-toed. The body is long, 

 and the legs placed far behind ; its feathers 

 thickly set, and bedded upon down. It lies 

 concealed during the day among reeds and 

 willows, by the sides of rivulets : it can run 

 over the surface of such waters as are thickly 

 covered with weeds, and it dives and hides 

 itself with equal ease : it flirts up its tail 

 when running, and flies with its legs hang- 

 ing down. In the evenings, it creeps by the 

 margins of the waters, among the roots of 

 bushes and long loose herbage, in quest of 

 its food, which consists of insects, small 

 fishes, worms, aquatic plants, and seeds : it 

 is also granivorous ; and if killed in Septem- 

 ber or October, after having had the advan- 

 tage of a neighbouring stubble, its flesh is 

 very good. 



The Gallinule, or Moor-hen, makes it 

 nest of reeds and rushes, closely interwoven, 

 choosing for it a very retired spot close by 

 the brink of the water ; and it is said the 

 female never quits it without covering her 

 eggs with the leaves of the surrounding her- 

 bage. The female lays from five to eight 

 eggs, of a light yellowish brown, marked 

 with rust-coloured spots. Soon after the 

 young are hatched, they take to the water, 

 and shift for themselves. They differ con- 

 siderably from the adults till after their 

 second autumnal moulting, having till then 

 a much lighter plumage. 



"One circumstance respecting this fami- 

 liar bird," Mr. Gould observes, " appears to 

 have escaped the notice of most ornitholo- 

 gists : we allude to the fact of the female 

 being clothed in a dark and rich plumage, 

 and having the base of the bill and the 

 frontal shield of a bright crimson-red tipped 

 with fine yellow ; her superiority in these 

 respects has caused her to be mistaken for 

 the male, which, contrary to the general 

 rule, is at all times clothed in a duller plu- 

 mage, and has the upper surface more olive 

 than in the female ; the bill is also less 

 richly tinted. 



There are very few birds of this genus ; 

 and most of them inhabit Java ; but they 

 are not by any means remarkable. 



GALLIWASP. (Celestus occiduus.) A 

 reptile of the Saurian order. It is nearly 

 two feet in length from the nose to the tip of 

 the tail, which, like the body, is thick and 

 strong, tapering pretty suddenly towards 

 the tip : the limbs are short, and the ani- 

 mal's whole appearance is remarkably stout 



