HORNED TRAGOPAN.— Ccriov/iis Lathdvii. 



his small dimensions, as bold as any of tliem, and if he thinks himself aggrieved will 

 attack a great Cochin China or Spanish cock with such spirited audacity that he will not 

 nnfrequently come off victor in the contest. The Bantam is of little use to the poultry 

 keeper, and may be classed among the fancy fowls, of which there are so many and ever- 

 varying breeds. Two examples of these birds may be seen perched on the paling just 

 above the game-cock's tail. 



The cominon Barn-Door Fowl is of no particular breed, no pains beiu^ taken to 

 prevent crossing, but is a kind of compound of all the preceding, except perhaps the 

 bantam, which ought to be kept away from them as tending to diminish the size of the 

 birds and their eggs. The regular egg trade is a very complicated and curious affair, 

 giving a livelihood to thousands, and possessing a national importance of which few 

 would dream whose only notion of eggs is connected with the breakfast table or the 

 salad bowl. 



A MOST singular group of birds now comes before our notice, of which the Horned 

 Tragopan affords a,n example. The males are remarkable for the loose pendent skin 

 which hangs from the base of the lower mandibles, and can be inflated at the pleasure of 

 the l3ird, and for the two lengthened protuberances behind the eyes which generally hang 

 listlessly down the cheeks, but can be erected at will and then look as shown in the 

 illustration. In all these birds the plumage is ample and the tail short. As far as is at 

 present known they are found in the higher and more mountainous districts of Asia, 

 having been taken in Thibet, Nepal, and the Himalayas. 



