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 O F T H E 



POULTRY KIND. 



UNDER this clafs we may rank our cock, peacock, turkey, pin- 

 tada or Guinea-hen, pheafant, buftard> grous, partridge, and 

 quail. Thefe being granivorous, fiefhy, and delicate, are among 

 birds, what beads of paflure are among quadrupeds. Their Ihorc 

 wings are ill formed for wandering, and their fhort bills for offence; 

 their legs are llrong ; but their toes made for fcratching up, and not for 

 holding or tearing ; while their aptitude to fatnefs and flefli, renders 

 them unwieldy, and almoft local, incapable of ftraying far from each 

 other. They are furnifhed with a very ftrong ftomach (or gizzard) j their 

 vorarioufnefs fcarce knows any bounds; even in captivity, they enjoy 

 the plcafure of eating; and foon grow fat and unwieldy. 



AmiOng the habits peculiar to this clafs of birds is that of dufting them- 

 felves, by lying Bat in fome dufty place, and with their wings and feet 

 Kactering the cud over their whole body. For what reafon is not eafy to 

 explain, whether to dtftroy infers, or to prevent adheuon of their feathers. 



THE BUSTARD 



IS the largeft land-bird native of Britain. The increafcd cultivation 

 of the country, and the extreme delicacy of its flelh, has greatly 

 thinned the fpecies; notwithftanding it inhabits only the open plain, 

 where its food is abundant, and where every invader may be fccn at a 

 diftanc-. 



The misle weighs about twenty-five pounds (the female is about half 

 the fize : a remarkable difference). The neck is a foot long, the legs a 

 foot and a half, covered vyith fmall fcales; three toes on each foot; un- 

 der the foot is a callous tubercle ferving as a heel. The wings are nine 

 feet froai tip to tip; flies with great difHcuity, but can continue f*r- 

 veral miles. The bead and neck of the male arc^afh- coloured; the back 

 6 barred 



