1S6 ANIMALS IN MENAGERIES. 



have thought it expedient to introduce this subject on 

 the present occasion, since our space on a former 

 would not allow of its exposition. Not having a spe- 

 cimen of this rare bird before us, we shall adopt 

 Mr. Bennett's description, taken from a living example 

 which was then in the Zoological Gardens. 



The size is about equal to that of the crested cu- 

 rassow. " Its head and neck are covered Avith short 

 black velvety feathers ; and all the rest of the plumage, 

 with the exception of the whole abdomen and under 

 tail covers, are of a brilliant black, exhibiting in certain 

 positions a tinge of green : the tail feathers are tipt 

 with white : the legs are red ; the claws yellow ; and 

 the iris brown. The bill is of a bright red ; and the 

 protuberance by which it is surmounted (which is 

 rounded in the young birds, and pear-shaped in the 

 adult males), is of a livid slate colour. This remarkable 

 projection is more than two inches in length, when 

 fully developed ; it is hard and bony externally, and 

 internally cellular, — the cells communicating with the 

 cavity of the mouth : it is not visible until after the 

 first moulting, when it begins in the form of a small 

 tubercle : it becomes much larger in the male than in 

 the female. In other respects tlie sexes are nearly the 

 same : the young are only distinguished by a browner 

 tinge. The windpipe descends for a considerable dis- 

 tance in front of the sternum, immediately beneath the 

 skin, and makes no less than three distinct convolutions 

 before passing into the cavity of the chest." These 

 birds, continues Mr. Bennett*, " are natives of Mexico, 

 and live in large bands, perching upon the trees, but 

 more commonly building their nests upon the ground. 

 The females lead their young about in the same manner 

 as the common hen. They subsist at first upon worms 

 and insects ; but, as they grow older, they feed a'so 

 upon fruits and seeds. They are easily domesticated, 

 even when taken adult ,* and appear to be equally 



* No authority is cited for this statement, which of course does not rest 

 on personal knowledge. 



