400 



Gallix^.- 



-BIRDS.- 



-Pbasianid.e. 



black ring. Tliis beautiful bird measures about 

 eighteen inches in total length. It is an inhabitant of 

 Malacca and the adjacent islands. 



THE TIBETAN POLTPLECTRON {Pobjpledron Tibe- 

 tanus), a species nearly allied to the preceding, is 

 about twenty-two inches long, and inhabits the moun- 

 tains of Tibet, probably extending into China. Its 

 colour is brown, barred on the lower surface with 

 blackish-brown, and mottled above with grayish-white. 

 The feathers of the wings, except the primary quills, 

 are each adorned near the tip with beautiful eye-spots 

 of blue, changing in certain lights to purple, and 

 exhibiting an opaline lustre. Each of these spots is 

 surrounded by a narrow black circle, and beyond this 

 with one of yellowish-white. Each feather of the two 

 ranges forming the tail is adorned with a pair of 

 similar, but larger spots, which, however, scarcely 

 equal those of the wings in brilliancy. 



TURKEYS. 



THE COMMON TURKEY {Meleagris Gallopavo). The 

 birds which we include imder this category are the 

 True Turkeys and the Guinea Fowl, which are dis- 

 tinguished from the rest of the Phasianids by their 

 short pendant tails, and the naked wattled skin with 

 which the whole of their heads and the greater part of 

 their necks are covered. 



The Common Turkey is a well known inhabitant 

 of our poultry-yards, in which his large size and 

 uncouth gestures when endeavouring to pay court to 

 the females of his seraglio, render him a conspicuous 

 object. This bird, unlike all the preceding species of 

 the present family, is a native of North America, in the 

 less frequented parts of which it is still to be met with 

 in a wild state. The wild birds are larger and finer 

 than the generality of our domesticated individuals; 

 the adult male measures about three feet and a half in 

 length, and his black plumage exhibits metallic purple 

 and bronzed-gi'een tints of far greater brilliancy than 

 any we are in the liabit of seeing upon the finest of 

 our domestic specimens. The quill-feathers, both of 

 the wings and taU, are variegated with butly- white in 

 the wild as in the tame specimens ; the head and all 

 the front of the neck are covered with a bare red skin, 

 adorned in parts with bright blue tints, and swelling 

 out towards the base of the neck into a sort of lobulated 

 wattle, which is capable of considerable distension 

 when the bird is excited. Above tlie base of the 

 bill there is a subcylindrical fleshy appendage which 

 is also capable of being distended, and then hangs 

 down in a curious manner at one side of the bill. The 

 breast exhibits a tuft of long black hairs. 



The wild Turkeys are met with in flocks in the 

 forests of North America ; the old males keeping by 

 themselves, and the females, with theiryoung associates, 

 in larger parties. These keep as much as possible out 

 of the way of the adult males, the latter taking every 

 opportunity of maltreating, and even destroying the 

 younger individuals of their own sex. They are 

 polygamous in their habits, and during the breeding 

 season the males display themselves before the females 

 in exactly the same way as the domesticated birds. 



strutting about with their tails spread and erected, 

 their wings drooping to the ground, their heads drawn 

 back, and their wattles dilated, uttering at the same 

 time that peculiar gobbling sound which must be 

 familiar to all our readers. The whole demeanour oi 

 the bird under these circumstances betrays an almost 

 convulsive state of excitement, which, however, he 

 seems to find so delightful, that in order to prolong it 

 he wUl, if possible, destroy the eggs laid by the female 

 so as to prevent her sitting, and thus removing herself 

 from his attentions. The female accordingly always 

 selects some secret place for the reception of her eggs ; 

 and those who keep Turkeys are well aware that this 

 tendency to lay in out of the way places has not been 

 eradicated in the hen Turkey by domestication. It is 

 said that sometimes several females deposit their eggs 

 in tlie same nest, so that one or more may always be 

 on the spot to protect them. 



The food of the wild Turkey consists of seeds and 

 fruits of all kinds, gi-ass, and insects. It seeks its food 

 and passes most of its time upon the ground, but roosts 

 at night upon the branches of trees. Its power of 

 flight is, however, but limited, and, when, in journeying 

 from one part of the country to another, a flock of 

 these birds comes to a river, they mount to the tops of 

 the highest trees on the bank, and from this position 

 of vantage, take flight for the opposite shore. Even 

 with this precaution, however, many of the weaker 

 individuals often fall into the water. 



THE OCELLATED TURKEY (Meleagris ocellata), 

 the only other known species of this genus, is a native 

 of Honduras, where it does not seem to be very 

 abundant. It is about the size of the common Turkey, 

 but iiir more splendid in its tints. The general colour 

 of the plumage of the body is a bronzed-green, with 

 each feather bordered with two lines, the first of which 

 is black, and the outer one golden-bronze. The 

 greater wing-coverts are bright chestnut, and the 

 quills elegantly variegated with black and white. The 

 upper tail-coverts and the quill-feathers of the tail are 

 brownish-gray, mottled and handed with black, but 

 towards the extremity each of them exhibits a band of 

 variable green and blue, bounded above and below 

 by a strong black line, and beyond this the tip of the 

 feather is of the most beautiful coppery or bronzed- 

 golden colour, so that, as these feathers are aiTanged 

 in four ranges one above the other, the whole tail 

 exhibits four transverse rows of brilliant eye-like spots. 

 The naked skin of the fore part of the head is red, and 

 exliibits an elongated wattle above the base of the biU 

 as in the common Turkey ; that of the neck is livid, and 

 its lower part is not lobulated. 



THE GUINEA mWL{Nicmida Meleagris)— Thte 19, 

 fig. 72 — another well-known domestic species, has the 

 head and neck naked, the crown of the head adorned 

 with a hard black casque, and the base of the bUl 

 furnished with large wattles. The general colour of 

 the plumage is pearly-gray, mottled all over with 

 small white spots. The tarsi have no spurs. This 

 bird is a native of the warmer parts of Africa, where it 

 is usually met with in small flocks or families, but at 

 some seasons these unite to form large companies. It 

 is a restless and quarrelsome bird, and very noisj', 



