PHASIANID^E. 153 



or fourteen in number. They are often pale yellow, richly 

 blotched with brown; and though of a different form, scarcely 

 if at all exceed in size those of the Blackbird or Thrush. 



THE ANDALUSIAN QUAIL. Hemipodius tachydromus. 

 This species differs from the true Quails in having no hind 

 toe, in the greater length and more slender form of its bill, 

 and in the very probable circumstance of its laying only four 

 eggs, which are of a yellowish colour, richly marked with 

 brown. Two of these birds are recorded by Mr. Yarrell to 

 have been shot in this country. 



PHASIANIDJB. PHEASANTS. 



Europe presents no natural example of this family, al- 

 though some very beautiful species belonging to it have 

 been introduced from time to time; and in America the 

 only native species which represent it are the Turkeys. It 

 is in the hotter parts of Asia that the most brilliantly- 

 coloured birds of this family occur in the greatest numbers. 

 In the forests of India, for example, the Peacock abounds, 

 and is more brilliant in the plumage in a wild than in a 

 domesticated state ; while the Golden Pheasant of China is 

 a bird of surpassing beauty ; and the Impeyan, a native of 



