72 



HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



woods, in the remotest parts of the kingdom, 

 and in forests which can scarcely be said to 

 have an owner, is a foreign bird, and was 

 at first artificially propagated amongst us. 

 They were brought into Europe from the 

 banks of the Phasis, a river of Colchis, in 

 Asia ]V|inor; and from whence they still re- 

 tain their name. 



Next to the peacock, they are the most 

 beautiful of birds, as well for the vivid colour 

 of their plumes, as for their happy mixtures 

 and variety. It is far beyond the power' of 

 the pencil to draw any thing so glossy, so 

 bright, or points so finely blended into each 

 other. We are told that when Crcesus, king 

 of Lydia, was seated on his throne, adorned 

 with royal magnificence, and all the barbar- 

 ous pomp of eastern splendour, he asked Solon 

 if he had ever beheld any thing so fine ? The 

 Greek philosopher, no way moved by the 

 objects before him, or taking a pride in his 

 native simplicity, replied, that after having 

 seen the beautiful plumage of the pheasant, 

 he could be astonished at no other finery. 



In fact, nothing can satisfy the eye with a 

 greater variety and richness of ornament than 

 this beautiful creature. The iris of the eye is 

 yellow ; and the eyes themselves are sur- 



They are nearly as large as those of a turkey, but are 

 white like a hen's, and with a thicker shell. 



The Galeated Gurassow (see Plate XVIII. fig. 1.) 

 is in size about equal to the crested curassow. Its head 

 and neck are covered with short black velvety feathers ; 

 and all the rest of the plumage, with the exception of 

 the white abdomen, and under tail-coverts, is of a bril- 

 liant black, exhibiting, in certain positions, a slight 

 tinge of green. The tail-feathers are tipped with white. 

 The legs are red; the claws yellow; the iris brown. 

 The bill is of a bright red ; and the protuberance by 

 which it is surmounted (which is rounded in the young 

 birds, and pear-shaped with the narrow end directed 

 forwards in adult males), is of a livid slate-colour. This 

 remarkable projection is more than two inches in length 

 when fully developed ; it is hard and bony externally, 

 and internally cellular, the cells communicating with 

 the cavity of the mouth. It is not visible until after the 

 first moulting, when it begins to make its appearance in 

 the form of a small tubercle, and attains a much larger 

 size in the male than in the female. In other respects 

 there is little difference between the sexes; and the 

 young are only distinguished by a browner tinge. The 

 windpipe descends for a considerable distance in front of 

 the sternum, immediately beneath the skin, and makes 

 no less than three distinct convolutions before passing 

 into the cavity of the chest. These birds are natives 

 of Mexico, and live in large bands, perching upon the 

 trees but more commonly building their nests upon the 

 ground. The Red Curassmo is figured, PI. 55, fig. 4. 



The Rasor-billed Curassow's most distinctive charac- 

 ter consists in the form of the horny process that sur- 

 mounts its bill, which rises above the level of the head, 

 is flattened on the sides, runs anteriorly into a sharp 

 edge, spreads out at the base where it is continuous 

 with the bill, and is, like it, of a bright red. The whole 

 of the upper parts, the fore part of the neck, the breast, 

 and the legs, are black, with a violet or purple gloss. 

 The tail is of the same colour for the greater part of its 

 length, but terminates in a white band ; and the extreme 



rounded with a scarlet colour, sprinkled with 

 small specks of black. On the forepart of 

 the head there are blackish feathers mixed 

 with a shining purple. The top of the head 

 and the upper part of the neck are tinged 

 with a darkish green, that shines like silk. 

 In some, the top of the head is of a shining 

 blue, and the head itself, as well as the upper 

 part of the neck, appears sometimes blue and 

 sometimes green, as it is differently placed to 

 the eye of the spectator. The feathers of the 

 breast, the shoulders, the middle of the back, 

 and the sides under the wings, have a black- 

 ish ground, with edges tinged of an exquisite 

 colour, which appears sometimes black and 

 sometimes purple, according to the different 

 lights it is placed in ; under the purple there 

 is a transverse streak of gold colour. The 

 tail, from the middle feathers to the root, is 

 about eighteen inches long ; the legs, the feet, 

 and the toes, are of the colour of horn. There 

 are black spurs on the legs, shorter than those 

 of a cock ; there is a membrane that connects 

 two of the toes together ; and the male is 

 much more beautiful than the female. 



This bird, though so beautiful to the eye, 

 is not less delicate when served up to the 

 table. Its flesh is considered as the greatest 



part of the belly is of a chestnut brown. Above the base 

 of the bill, which is covered with short velvety feathers 

 concealing the nostrils, is a tuft of straight feathers ; the 

 iris is dusky, and the naked legs are reddish brown. In 

 the j'oung bird the horny process of the bill is smaller, 

 and less intensely red. It has not yet been attempted 

 to naturalize the present species in this quarter of the 

 globe ; but its flesh, according to Marcgrave, in what- 

 ever mode prepared, but especially when roasted, yields 

 to that of no bird either of Europe or America. He 

 adds that it is domesticated and cultivated by the gentry 

 of Brazil, on account both of its dignity and elegance. 



The Guan is of the same family with the curassows, 

 and closely allied to those birds both in structure and 

 general appearance. It is nevertheless distinguished by 

 several remarkable peculiarities. The bill is much 

 shallower, its transverse diameter exceeding its depth, 

 somewhat elongated, and naked at the base ; the nostrils 

 are placed about the middle of the bill, and are not at 

 all concealed by the advancement of the feathers of the 

 head ; a naked space surrounds the eyes ; the skin of 

 the throat is destitute of feathers and capable of con- 

 siderable distension ; the claws are strong, curved, and 

 pointed ; and the hinder toe is articulated on the same 

 level with the anterior ones, and consequently applies 

 its whole length to the surface of the ground. As in 

 the other genera of the family, the bill is convex above 

 and curved at the point ; the legs are of moderate length 

 and without spurs ; the wings short, with the sixth 

 quill-feather longest ; and the tail flat, rounded at the 

 extremity, and formed of twelve broad feathers. From 

 its long domestication in the poultry yards of South 

 America, it is subject to very extensive variations. It 

 is the largest bird of the genus that has yet been dis- 

 covered, measuring when fully grown about thirty inches 

 in total length, of which the tail constitutes thirteen or 

 fourteen. The whole upper surface of the body is of a 

 dusky black or bronze colour with a gloss of green, which 

 becomes olive in certain positions with regard to light 

 Supplement to the English edition of Cuvier. 



