Notices of Books. ' 9389 



group next the Megapodidae, with whicli it undoubtedlj possesses 

 considerable affinities ; and in the Darwinian theory of transmutation 

 of species it must have sprung directly from an ambitious Megapode 

 which had desired to raise itself in the scale of birds." — P. 494. 



In gallinaceous birds India is richer than any other country in the 

 world, and, as a matter of course, a very considerable portion of the third 

 volume is occupied in describing them. From the lordly peacock to 

 the diminutive quail, all are interesting, all are beautiful, and all occur 

 in a profusion of which, in this country, we have no example. Colonel 

 Williamson, in his notes on the Jungleterry district, says that from 

 twelve to fifteen hundred peacocks were often in sight at once ; 

 " whole woods were covered with their beautiful plumage." In vain 

 does the artist exclaim, " Never approximate blue and green." Rus- 

 kin tells us, "There is nothing either in nature or art more beautiful 

 than a peacock's neck." Mr. Gosse warms into eloquence at the 

 thought of this beautiful object. " Who does not know his empurpled 

 neck, so elegantly bridled ; his aigrette of four-and-tweuty battledoor 

 feathers ; his pencilled body-clothing ; and, above all, his grand 

 erectile train, with its rows of eyelets, the kidney-shaped nucleus of 

 deepest purple, the sun"ounding band of green, widening in front and 

 filling the notch of the pupil, the broad circle of brown, the narrow 

 black ring edged with chesnut, and then the decomposed barbs of the 

 feather, gilded green, all presenting the effulgence of burnished metal, 

 or rather the glitter and glow of precious gems flashing in the varying 

 light." Impey's pheasant is almost as beautiful ; its s))lendid metallic 

 greens and purples can scarcely be surpassed : let us hear Mr. Jerdon's 

 account of this magnificent bird. 



" Tlie Monaul Pheasant (Lophophorus Impeyanns). — The monaul 

 is found on almost every hill of any elevation, from the first great ridge 

 above the plains to the limits of the wooded district, and in the inte- 

 rior it is the most numerous of the game-birds. When the hills near 

 Mussooree were first visited by Europeans, it was found to be com- 

 mon there, and a few may still be seen on the same ridge eastwards 

 from Landour. In summer, when the rank vegetation which springs 

 up in the forest renders it impossible to see many yards around, ieyr 

 are to be met with, except near the summits of the great ridges jut- 

 ting from the snow, where, in the morning and evening, when they 

 come out to feed, they may be seen in the open glades of the forest 

 and on the green slopes above. At that time no one would imagine 

 they were half so numerous as they really are ; but as the cold season 

 approaches, and the rank grass and herbage decay, they begin to 



