274 BIRDS. GALLIC. 



back-toe elevated ; the tarsi long, and, in the male, furnished 

 with two or more spurs ; tail long, rounded. 



P. chinquis, Tern. (Pavo bicalcaratus, Tibetanus, Lin.) Argus Poly- 

 plectron. Cinereous, striated with dusky, and spotted with white 

 above ; wing-coverts sprinkled with brilliant orbicular cserulean 

 spots, or eyes ; under parts of the body gray, undulated with 

 dusky lines ; secondary quills with shining blue spots, and tail- 

 coverts with two shining green spots. 23 inches long. Inhabits 

 China Shaw, xi. pi. 7- 



Gen. 6. MELEAGIUS, Lin. 



Bill short and thick, base covered with a naked skin ; head and 

 upper part of the neck invested with a naked, tuberculated 

 skin ; a loose caruncle on the upper part of the bill ; throat 

 with a longitudinal, pendulous, and carunculated wattle ; tarsi 

 of the male with an obtuse and weak spur ; wings short ; tail 

 of eighteen feathers, spreading into a circle. 



M. gallopavo, Lin. Common Turkey. Body black above and be- 

 neath, and glossed with violet and gold ; head and upper part of 

 the neck with a blue papillated and hairy skin ; feathers of the 

 tail brown, varied with black. The female has smaller wattles, 

 and is incapable of erecting the feathers of the tail. 3| feet long. 

 Inhabits N. America. Shaw, xi. pi. 8. 



In its wild state the Turkey associates in flocks, feeding on wild berries, acorns, 

 or insect food, and roosts on the highest trees, This valuable bird is said to have 

 been originally introduced from America to Spain, and brought to England in 1524. 



M. ocellata, Cuv. Head and neck naked ; back, rump, and breast 

 golden-green, banded with glossy violet ; primaries white, spot- 

 ted with black ; secondaries white ; tail-feathers wedge-shaped, 

 griseous, spotted with black, the tip green, shining with violet 

 and gold ; bill horny. 3| feet long. Honduras. Shaw, xiv. pi. 35. 



Gen. 7. ARGUS, Tern. 



Bill as long as the head, compressed, straight, with the base 

 naked ; upper mandible arched, and bent towards the tip ; 

 nostrils lateral, placed in the middle of the bill, and half- 

 closed by a membrane ; head, cheeks, and neck, naked ; legs 

 slender ; tarsi smooth ; fore toes united by membranes, hind 

 toe jointed on the tarsus ; tail ascending, compressed, with 

 twelve feathers, of which the two middle are much elongated. 



This genus is distinguished from Phaslanus by having the secondary wing -feathers 

 much larger than the primaries. 



A. giganteusj Tern. (Phasianus Argus, Lin.) Argus Pheasant. 

 Lower parts of the neck and under parts of the body red brown, 

 striped with black ; back and tail-coverts yellowish, marked with 

 rounded brown spots ; secondary feathers with many ocelli ; webs 

 of the quills blue ; tail brown-black, spotted with white. The 

 female is brown-black, spotted with yellow and brown, with the 



