Order 4. GALLIN.E. 213 



Iraca, Buffon; I'hasiamis motmat, Gmelin ; Ph. parraqua. Lath). The cry of this bird is very loud, and articu- 

 lates Its name. The trachea of the mule descends beneath the skin as low as the abdomen, and then ascends to 

 enter the thorax. 



With these different Curassows has been generally associated 



The Hoazin {Opistfiocomus, Hofmansegg,) — 

 An American bird, which has the same port, and a short and thick bill, with nostrils pierced in its 

 corneous substance, without any membrane. The head is adorned with an occipital crest of long fea- 

 thers, very narrow and thinly barbed ; and what distinguishes it from all the true Poultry, is the total 

 absence of membrane between the toes. 



This bird is the Pkasianus ci-islaiiis, Lin. ; of a g-reenish-brown, varieg'ated with white above, the front of the 

 neck and tip of the tail fulvous, and the belly chestnut. It is found in Guiana, perching along the margin of 

 inundated places, where it subsists on leaves and the seeds of a species of Arum. Its flesh smells strongly of 

 castor, and is only employed as a bait for particular fishes. It forms a genus very distinct from any other among 

 the Poultry, and when its anatomy is known, may become the type of a particular family. 



[This very curious bird is perhaps the most insulated species of the whole class : its eyelashes, and reticulated 

 tarsi, help to separate it externally from the Poultry ; and its anatomy is altogether unique, exhibiting a peculiar 

 adaptation for deriving nutriment exclusively from foliage. The crop, of enormous dimensions, hollows out, as 

 it were, the pectoral muscles and anterior portion of the sternal keel, occupying a great heart-shaped cavity, and 

 extending backward half-way along the trunk and at least four-fifths the length of the sternal apparatus ; it 

 receives the superior portion of the oesophagus on the left side, and on the right is succeeded by an inflated canal, 

 live inches and a half long, constricted like the human colon, and terminated by the proventriculus, to which 

 follows the gizzard, which latter is no bigger than an olive, with its muscular coat scarcely thickened ; the intes- 

 tines are moderately long, and coeca an inch. The sternal crest, so deeply cut away in front, forms a slight ridge 

 anteriorly, which is continued forward into a very long bony apophysis, that is soldered with the furoula ; the 

 hindward emarginations are inconsiderable, the exterior pair being commonly reduced to a foramen, or even quite 

 ossified. This bird is not naturally wild, and ■<; observed in small flocks, which commonly perch side by side on 

 £ome branch, always in marshy situations.* cus to have only ten tail-feathers. 



We now arrive at the normal series of Poultry-birds, which have the hind-toe small and 



elevated.] 



The Peafowl {Pavo, Lin.), — 



So named (Paon) from their cry, and which are characterized by a crest of peculiar form, and by the 



tail-coverts of the male extending far beyond the quills, and being capable of erection into a broad and 



gorgeous disk. The shining, lax, and silky barbs of these feathers, and the eye-like spots which 



decorate their extremities, are well known to every one, as exemplified in 



The Indian Peafowl (P. indicus, Lin.), the head of which is adorned with an aigrette of narrow vertical feathers, 

 widened at the tips. This superb bird, originally from the north of India, [where it still exists abundantly iu a 

 state of nature], was introduced into Europe by Alexander. The wild specimens even surpass the domestic ones 

 in brilliancy. The blue extends over the back and wings, instead of the common barred markings ; and their 

 train is still longer. [We have seen domestic Peacocks with these characters, which however are not attained by 

 the greater number; and have also observed wild-shot birds like the ordinary breed, which it may be suspected 

 had not acquired their final colouring; the developement of which would seem to be generally arrested in the 

 former, so much so that we have seen an individual more than eighteen years of age, that did not differ from the 

 common farm-yard specimens]. 



The Japanese Peafowl (badly named by Linnaeus P. OTKfieusti ^s it possesses spurs), is a distinct species, the 

 aigrette of which is composed of long and narrow feathers ; its neck is green instead of blue, and undated or 

 gilded : train scarcely differing from that of the other. 



[The additional species ranged by the author among the Peafowl are distinct enough, and now 

 generally known as 



The Pea-pheasants {Polyplectron, Tem.). 

 They are much smaller, and particularly remarkable for the tarsi of the male bearing two or ni< 

 spurs.] The tail-co«rts, which do not extend beyond the tail, and are webbed in the ordinary manner, 

 have two brilliant metallic spots, and the wing-tertials have sometimes single ones. 

 [Three or four species are known, from the mountains of eastern Asia.] 



The Impeyan {Lophophorus, Tem.). 

 The head surmounted by an aigrette hke that of a Peafowl, and a similar flat tail, the coverts of which, 



• l-'Hetm'm\eT, \n yinniiles des Sdevcei NaturelUt {or \SS1. | which was afterwards continued, this bird having no harsh cry like 



^ We suspect tliat this naiuc originated in a mis^^rint for mutut, I the other. — £d. 



