396 



GA'LUN^E.- 



-BIRDS.- 



-Phasianiu.e. 



feathers, and of a blackieh-brown colour, and the back 

 of the neck dark gray. The whole of the feathers of 

 the back and wings are marked towards the tips with 

 bands of brown, black, and grayish-white, the paler 

 colour occupying the margin of the feathers, and thus 

 giving the plumage an ocellated appearance ; the tail- 

 feathers are blackish-brown, broadly tipped with buff; 

 the lower surface is pale buff, with some black bands 

 on the flanks ; the front of the neck bears numerous 

 elongated black feathers, with a white line dovm the 

 centre of each. 



This handsome bird is an inhabitant of Western 

 Australia, where it dwells principally on the barren 

 sandy plains of the interior. Its food consists chiefly 

 of seeds and berries. The eggs are deposited in a 

 mound, usually about three feet in height, composed 

 of layers of dead leaves and other vegetable matters, 

 and covered with a coating of sand. The natives, 

 who are very fond of the eggs, wait until the moimd 

 is completed and covered up, when they easily secure 

 the whole stock, and the hen birds will then lay a 

 second, and even a third time. When broken up, the 

 mounds are always found to be tenanted by vast num- 

 bers of ants. 



THE BRUSH TTJKKEY {TaUerjalla Lathami)—7\a.te 

 20, fig. 7-1 — one of the most remarkable species of this 

 family, is a native of the brushes of New South Wales. 

 Its characters are so singular, that by Latham, and 

 even by Swainson, it was regarded as a vulture. It 

 has a robust and strongly-arched bill, of a black 

 colour; the head and neck are covered with a deep 

 red skin, over which a few black hairs are thinly 

 scattered, and at the base of the neck there is a large 

 somewhat lobulated wattle of a bright yellow colour, 

 which, at the first glance, has something of the general 

 effect of the downy frill which frequently adorns the 

 same part in the vultures. The plumage of the upper 

 surface, including the ample tail, is blackish-brown, or 

 nearly black ; that of the lower surface is also blackish - 

 brown, but each feather has a sUvery-gray tip, and the 

 feet are brown. 



In its habits it is terrestrial, generally wandering 

 about in small flocks, and when disturbed eluding pur- 

 suit by the facility with which it runs through the 

 brush. When hard pressed, or suddenly alarmed, the 

 flock will fly up to the lowest bough of a tree, the top 

 of which they attain by a succession of leaps, and then 

 fly off to another part of the brush. The mound pre- 

 pared b}' this bird for the incubation of its eggs, consists 

 of a vast heap of decaying vegetable matters, collected 

 by several individuals acting in concert. The heap is 

 formed by the birds grasping successive portions of the 

 materials in their powerful feet, and then throwing 

 these behind them towards the centre of the space 

 occupied by them ; and in this way they clear the 

 surface of the ground of all herbage for a consider- 

 able distance around the mound. The eggs are large, 

 and, as in the case of the Megapodius, are deposited 

 in an upright position. The natives assured Mr. 

 Gould that the old birds frequented the vicinity of 

 the nest at the time when the young might be expected 

 to appear, and frequently uncovered the eggs and 

 covered them up again. This has been confirmed by 



the breeding of a pair in the London Zoological Gar- 

 dens, the male (not the female as stated by the Austra- 

 lians to Mr. Gould) being assiduous in his attention to 

 the eggs, and assisting the young birds to make their 

 escape from the mound. 



CUVIER'S TALEGALLA [Talcgalla Cuvkri), the 

 only other known species of this genus, is an inhabitant 

 of the forests of New Guinea. It is a much smaller 

 bird than the preceding, its size being only that of a 

 small fowl, and is entirely of a black colour. 



THE MALEO {Megacephalon Malco), another sin- 

 gular species of this family, and the last to which we 

 shall refer, is a native of the island of Celebes. It has 

 the head naked, and furnished with a casque resembling 

 that of the cassoway in form, and the neck clothed 

 with a light down, amongst which are some short 

 scattered hairs. Like the preceding species, this bird 

 deposits its eggs in a heap of sand and vegetable 

 matters, and leaves them to be hatched by the heat 

 produced in the mass. 



Family III.— PHASIANID^. 



The birds of this family, some of which are amongst 

 the most elegant and splendid of their class, are nearly 

 all inhabitants of the eastern hemisphere, only two 

 species being found in America ; and even in the Old 

 World their distribution is almost exclusively restricted 

 to the warmer parts of the Asiatic continent and its 

 dependent islands. They have a bill of moderate size 

 and strength, of which the upper mandible is pretty 

 strongly arched at the tip, where it overhangs the 

 lower one ; their wings are usually short and rounded, 

 indicating but moderate powers of flight ; but their 

 tarsi are tolerably elongated and strong, and their toes 

 rather short and stout, and terminated by pretty strong 

 scratching claws. The hinder toe is always shorter 

 than the anterior ones, and slightly elevated above 

 their plane on the back of the tarsus, which is also 

 frequently armed with one or more spurs. The form 

 of the tail varies greatly. It is usually ample, some- 

 times broad and rounded at the apex, sometimes 

 elongated and wedge-shaped, or pointed. A portion 

 of the head is almost always bare of feathers, usually 

 round the eyes ; but in many cases a larger space is 

 covered with naked skin, and this is not unfrequently 

 dilated into combs and wattles of various and often 

 curious forms. 



The numerous species belonging to this family may 

 be divided into four subordinate groups — those of the 

 Pheasants, Cocks, Peacocks, and Turkeys, of each of 

 which we shall now proceed to describe a few illustra- 

 tions : — ■ 



PHEASANTS. 



THE COMMON PHEASANT [Phasiarms colcMciis). 

 This well-known bird, which is abundant in most parts 

 of Britain, is not a native of this country, but has been 

 introduced liere, and into the southern parts of Europe 

 generally, from the south-west of the Asiatic continent. 

 The particidar district from which the progenitors of 

 the Pheasants now inhabiting Europe were derived, is 

 supposed to have been the banks of the river Phasis, 



