128 CLASS AVES. 



feathers commence to sprout ; then, being about twelve or 

 fifteen days old, they descend to the ground Avith their mother 

 who leads them about, as our hens lead their chickens. The 

 young, when once on the ground, eat small grains, fruits, and 

 insects. The mother scrapes the earth exactly like our hens, 

 receives her young in the same manner under her wings, 

 where she shelters them from the rain and the injuries of the 

 weather. When they are large, and in a state to fly, they 

 quit the mother, and remain together until the renewal of the 

 rainy season, when the desire of reproduction separates them 

 into pairs. 



When taken young they are easily tamed, and become 

 extremely familiar ; they know so well the house in which 

 they have been brought up, that, to whatever distance they 

 may remove from it, they are sure to find it again ; but it is 

 with great difficulty that they can be brought to sleep there, 

 always preferring to pass the night upon the roof, or perched 

 upon trees in the neighbourhood of the house, — pretty nearly 

 as our domestic poultry do, when they sleep abroad. 



The common cry of the Marail is soft and gentle, and this 

 is the one which it utters every morning at the point of day ; 

 but when wounded or irritated by any animal which pursues it, 

 it sends forth cries more strong and vehement. The flesh of 

 these birds is very good eating, but not comparable to that 

 of our European pheasants. 



The Marail inhabits South America ; it is commonly found 

 in all the woods of Guiana. The Indians know this bird 

 under the name of Maraye ; the French colonists call it 

 pheasant (faisan). It is the same bird which is figured by 

 Buffon, under the denomination of faisan verdatre de 

 Cayenne. 



The Parkaqua, made a separate subdivision by our 

 author, is retained in the genus Penelope by M. Temminck. 

 It was formerly, most erroneously, classed with the true 



