PEACOCKS. 



337 



brilliant circles of metallic 

 splendour. The female is 

 destitute of this ornament, 

 the richness and beauty of 

 which are beyond descrip- 

 tion. 



The Guinea -Fowls 

 or Pintadoes (Nvmida) 

 have the head naked and 

 provided with fleshy wat- 

 tles on the lower part of 

 the cheeks ; their skull is 

 likewise generally sur- 

 mounted by a callous crest. 

 Their feet are without 

 spurs, and their tail is 

 short and pendent. The 

 Guinea - fowls, as their 

 name implies, are of Afri- 

 can origin: they live in 

 numerous troops under 

 bushes and in copses, 

 where they find berries 

 and small snails, on which 

 they feed. 



The Pheasants (Pha- 

 siamis) have the cheeks 

 around the eyes covered 

 by a red skin, or by very- 

 short feathers ; their tail 

 is long and narrow, with 

 the feathers arranged in 

 two planes that overlap 



each other, the middle ones being considerably the longest. They are all 

 natives of Asia, and seem to increase in beauty as we go farther east, until in 

 China we find the beautiful Gold and Silver Pheasants and the superb Argus, 

 represented in our figure, studded with dark ringed eye-spots on a cinnamon 

 ground, and almost rivalling the peacocks in the richness of their costume. The 

 Pheasants of our preserves (P. Colchicus) are said to have been imported into 

 Greece by the adventurous Argonauts from the banks of the river Phasis, 

 whence the origin of their name. 



The Barn-door Fowl (Callus) is furnished with a fleshy crest or comb 

 upon the crown of the head and wattles on the throat. The quills of the tail 

 are fourteen in number, placed back to back on two planes, and the tail- 

 coverts, greatly lengthened, extend in the adult male with a graceful arch 

 over the quills. 



The Curassows (Cratf, of which there are many species nearly as large 

 as a turkey, are almost invariably of a deep black colour, glossed with metal- 

 lic reflections. Some of them are adorned with a crest composed of short 

 curled feathers. They live in flocks in South America, where they perch and 

 build their nests upon the loftiest trees. 



The Grouse (Tetrao) are distinguishable by a naked and generally red 



22 



FIG. 3 C8. PEACOCK. 



