FAMILY GALL I NIDA. POULTRY. 



79 



poultry, being the hardiest of the Pheasants, it has thriven well, and is 

 commonly called the Silver Pheasant. They pair towards the end of April, 

 and the female lays from eight to fourteen eggs, brownish-yellow inclining 

 to white, and spotted with brown. This species connects the Phasiani with 

 the Galli by the form and disposition of its tail feathers, and especially with 

 the G. Macartnei. 



The general form of Amhersfs Pheasant, and the arrangement of its 

 plumage, and the tail, are similar to those of the Golden Pheasant ; the top 

 of the head is green, the crest feathers are crimson, and two and a half 

 inches long ; the pendent tippet white, and each feather marked with a dark 

 green circular band, and with a similarly coloured straight band near the 

 tip ; neck, back, shoulders, chest, and wing-coverts metallic-green, and each 

 feather tipped with velvet-black ; tail-coverts brown at the base, their centre 

 barred with green and white, and tip scarlet, and as they approach the 

 caudal quills become elongated to ten inches; the first caudal quill is 

 twenty-nine inches long, barred with green on a mottled-white ground, the 

 third and fourth measure thirty-eight inches, their inner web narrow, and 

 mottled with black and white, their outer much wider, and marked with 

 transverse, circular, dark-green bars on a ground the inner part of which 

 is greyish-white, and the outer light chestnut-brown. From Cochin 

 China. 



TEAGOPAN. This genus of birds is intermediate to the Turkeys and 

 Pheasants, but in their general form correspond more closely to the latter. 

 They are, however, remarkably distinguished by their wattles, and by the 

 fleshy horns arising from the sides of the head. They are natives of the 

 mountainous districts of India and China. 



The Nepaul Horned Pheasant (T. Satyrus) measures from twenty to 

 twenty-three inches in length ; beak brown ; in the male, the head furnished 

 with a crest of long narrow feathers, of which those from the front and 

 summit are black, and from the hind head rich scarlet maroon ; naked 

 ocular circlets, fleshy horns, and wattles mingled blue, purple, and red ; 

 throat, sides of the head, and nape black ; neck scarlet maroon ; back and 

 upper surface olive-brown, barred and zigzagged with black, and irregularly 

 spotted with white ; shoulders wood-coloured or scarlet maroon, as are 

 also the whole under surface, but numerously marked with white spots 

 encircled with black ; quills and tail blackish-brown ; legs light brown. 

 It feeds on grains, roots, the larvse of ants, and other insects. 



CRYPTONYX. There are four or five species, of which the C. Caronatus 

 (Plate 9) is the most prominent, because the best known ; they are all 

 natives of India and its islands. They are nearly related to the Pheasants 

 in appearance and habits ; the circumference of the eye is naked ; the tail 

 is of moderate length, and plain ; and in the male of the illustrated species 

 a crest of long thinly-barbed rufous feathers rises from the head, and a few 

 long barbless stems spring up over each eyebrow. Its plumage is bright 

 green and blue ; whilst that of C. Niger is wholly black. 



HEMIPODIUS (Gr. q/uovc, half, and irovt, afoot). This genus of birds, 

 described by Lacepede under the name Tridactylus, and by Illiger under that 

 of Ortygis, was included by Linnaeus among his Tetraows, and by Latham 

 in the Perdrices. They are the smallest of gallinaceous birds, not being 

 larger than a Thrush, and more nearly resemble the Quails, from which, 

 however, they are remarkably distinguished by their short tails, consisting of 

 ten quill-feathers. There is but little difference between the male and female 

 plumage. They are polygamous, but both young and old birds are solitary ; 

 they feed principally on insects, and are found on barren lands ; two or three 

 species in the southern parts of Europe, but the greater number in the warm 

 regions of Asia and Africa. They do not fly much, but run with great 

 speed ; and when pursued, commonly hide themselves under any tuft of grass 

 which may be in their way. The species are about ten in number. 



LOPHOPHORUS (Gr. Xi'n.,1,, . a crest, and <j>ipia, I bear). This genus is 

 distinguished from the Pheasants, among which it had been placed previous 

 to Temminck's arrangement, by the much greater length of the upper man- 

 dible, which completely hides the lower. The legs are very remarkable in 

 being feathered not only to the knee, but in having a feathered stripe extend- 

 ing down the inside of the tarsus to the root of the spur ; the claws are long 



and slightly arched, that of the middle toe is nearly three-quarters of an inch 

 in length. 



MELEAGRIS Turkey. There has been much difference of opinion as to 

 the region from whence Turkeys were first brought into Europe ; the earlier 

 ornithologists, as Belon, Rav, and Willughby, consider them to have been 

 derived from Asia ; but subsequently Buffon and others have denied their 

 existence as indigenous to Asia, and have affirmed that they were imported 

 by the Spaniards from America. Of Turkeys there are known but two 

 species, both of which, in their wild state, are natives of America, one of 

 which forms the stock of our domestic bird. 



The domestication of the Turkey has produced several varieties ; the most 

 rare is the Tufted Turkey, of which the crest is sometimes white, at other 

 times black. Sometimes the whole plumage is entirely black, sometimes 

 white, at other times speckled, and these varieties are continued by breeding'; 

 but a white or speckled Turkey is never met with in the wild state. Cross 

 breeds between the domestic and wild Turkey often occur in those districts 

 where the birds are common, and such are preferred for the table as com- 

 bining the fat of the former with the flavour of the latter. 



Wild Turkeys are not very particular in their food; they eat maize, 

 berries, fruits, grasses, beetles, and even tadpoles, young frogs, and lizards, 

 but where it is to be had they prefer the pecan nut, and more especially the 

 acorn, on which they fatten rapidly. When the crop of acorns is very great 

 in a particular district, they are attracted to it from their usual haunts in 

 great numbers. About the beginning of October they assemble in large 

 flocks on the Ohio and Mississippi, and hence this is called by the Indians 

 the Turkey Month. 



Turkeys in the domestic state are polygamous, one male being sufficient 

 for twelve or fifteen females ; the hens of two or three years old are most 

 careful of their brood. The hen Turkey lays about twenty-eight eggs, twice 

 a year, viz., in February and August, where the temperature is mild, but in 

 colder districts only once a year, in March or April. The eggs are laid 

 every other day, and when the hen has ceased she begins to sit ; those which 

 had been previously taken from the nest are then to be returned to it ; but 

 sixteen, or at most eighteen, are as many as she can manage, and care should 

 be taken that the first two which have been laid should not be included 

 among these, as they are generally unfruitful. She sits twenty -seven or 

 twenty-eight days, and during that time food should be placed by her, or she 

 will be liable to starve herself, fiom her indisposition to leave the nest. 



NUMIDA Pintado. The birds composing this genus are natives of Africa, 

 but some of them are now spread over almost the whole globe : they live 

 wild in the southern part of the African continent, congregating in large flocks 

 during the daytime about the marshes and rivers in search of food, and at 

 night roosting in the forests. The partial webbing of their feet adapts them 

 to the marshy districts in which they feed ; but the shortness of their wings 

 prevents them from flying well or to any great distance. They feed on land 

 and water insects, worms, snails, &c., and destroy buds and flowers. They 

 utter a shrill note similar to the creaking of a door on its hinges, and are very 

 restless and quarrelsome. 



The species are the Guinea, Mitred, and Carnal Pintado. 



There can be no doubt that the Guinea Pintado is the bird which was 

 known to the Greeks and Romans by the name Meleagris, which, however, 

 has been applied wrongly by the older naturalists as the generic title of the 

 Turkeys, and has been so firmly established by use, that confusion only 

 would be excited by attempting any change. The following description of 

 the Meleagris given by Athenasus, after Clytus Milesius, a disciple of Aris- 

 totle, is strikingly characteristic of the Guinea Fowl, or Pintado : he says, 

 " They want natural affection towards their young ; their head is naked, and 

 on its top is a hard, round body, like a peg or nail ; from its cheeks hangs 

 a red piece of flesh like a beard ; it has no wattles like common poultry ; 

 its feathers are black, spotted with white ; it has no spurs, and both sexes 

 so nearly resemble each other as not to be distinguishable at sight." 



OPISTHOCOMUS (Gr. o-itiaQtv, behind, and KOfiy, hair) Sasa. There is 

 but one species ; rejected by Temminck from the gallinaceous birds, but 

 retained by Cuvier. It is about the size of a Peacock ; has on the back of 



