ORDER OALLIN.E. 237 



pleasure, and assist its progressive motion. All birds of lofty 

 flight, those who are obliged to turn with celerity, and all 

 birds that make long voyages, and whose flight is continuous, 

 are especially provided with long and powerful remiges. 



The gallinae, which are heavy birds, whose wings, ill- 

 adapted for flight, neither permit them to set out quickly, nor 

 to accelerate their course, nor to turn rapidly, nor to rise to 

 an elevated distance in the air, have almost all the remiges 

 shorter than the secondary quills. In the great majority of 

 them, they pass very little beyond the rump. This character 

 has acquired for the gallinae, with some naturalists, the deno- 

 mination of brachypterous, or short-winged birds. 



But of all the gallinae there are none whose wings are so 

 little adapted for flight as those of the argus. The great 

 quills, or remiges, are not only shorter than the secondary, 

 but so disproportioned that one might almost be tempted to 

 consider the conformation as an error of nature. 



In fact, the secondary quills are three times longer than 

 the primary. Their stems are extremely weak, and they 

 hav;? no coverts. If we add to this the weight of the bird, 

 and its broad tail, in the centre of which are implanted two 

 great and broad feathers, which exceed the others by many 

 feet, we may easily conclude that the argus is not only a 

 very imique bird, but also the only known bird in which so 

 remarkable a disproportion takes place. 



The argus runs more than it flies, and its legs being long, 

 render it well adapted for this motion. It is also assisted 

 therein by the use of its wings. It does, indeed, sometimes 

 rise from the ground, but its flight is short and heavy. 



This bird inhabits Sumatra, and is equally found in the 

 south of India ; and especially in the kingdoms of Pegu, 

 Siam, and Cambodia. It is very abundant in the environs 

 of Malacca. It is also said to be found in Chinese Tartary. 



The argus was brought for the first time to Batavia from 



