604 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



Rasores. 



Isert, Plate CCCXCVII. fig. 8) the base of the bill forms 

 ' a raised, expanded disk upon the forehead. The violet 

 plantain-eater (M. violacea) is a bird of great beauty, the 

 general plumage being of a rich glossy violet black, the 

 crown and primaries crimson, the bill yellow tipt with red, 

 and a clear white stripe beneath the eye. It occurs in 

 the province of Acra, in Guinea, and in other parts of 

 Western Africa, and feeds on the fruit of the musa or 

 plantain tree. The touracos (genus Corythaix, Illiger, 

 Plate CCCXCVII. fig. 7) want the expansion at the base 

 of the bill, and have the head adorned by an elongat- 

 ed crest Several beautiful species belong to this genus, 

 such as the Cuculus Persa of Linn., a native of the Cape, 

 — of a fine green colour, with a portion of the quill-fea- 

 thers crimson. Vaillant informs us that there are great 

 numbers of these birds in the country of the Kottinquas, — 

 that they are very difficult to shoot, as they perch only on 

 the summits of the tallest trees, and rarely suffer any one 

 to approach within gun-shot, — but that they are easily 

 caught alive in snares baited with such fruits as are in 

 season. He adds, that they are excellent eating. Another 

 species of this genus, which it is delightful to look upon, 

 is the Pauline touraco, C. Paulina, also a native of South- 

 ern Africa. M. Vieillot, who had occasion to examine 

 one alive in Paris, informs us that its manners were mild 

 and familiar, that it lived on succulent fruits, and was fond 

 of sugar. Its habits were active, its voice sonorous, and 

 apparently ventriloqual. 



Order IV.— RASORES. 1 



GALLINACEOUS OR RASORIAL BIRDS. 



The species of this order, by far the most valuable to the 

 human race of all the feathered tribes (how many, regard- 

 less of Ornithology, yet dwell with pleasure on a roast- 

 ed turkey), are characterized by a rather short and con- 

 vex bill. The upper mandible is somewhat curved, and 

 furnished with a cere, sometimes naked, sometimes fea- 

 thered. The head is generally small in proportion to the 

 body. The nostrils are placed on each side of the bill, 

 and usually in a fleshy protecting membrane. The tarsi 

 are for the most part elongated. The toes are four in 

 number, three of which are anterior, and united by a mem- 

 brane more or less extended, at their bases ; the fourth, 

 posterior, is articulated higher than the others, and is in 

 some cases very small, or even entirely wanting. 



This order, as we have elsewhere noticed, contains se- 

 veral of the most ornamental, and a great majority of the 

 most highly prized and useful species of the feathered 

 race. While the peacock and golden pheasant stand un- 

 Tivalled alike for elegance of form and beauty of plumage, 

 the turkey and domestic fowl, the grouse quail and par- 

 tridge, lay claim to more substantial though less sentimen- 

 tal regard, as conducing in no small degree to the social 

 enjoyments of civilized life. Gallinaceous birds are gene- 

 rally distinguished by a bulky form, and a heavy and some- 

 what laborious flight. In fact, the sternum or breast-bone 

 is so deeply notched on either side as to diminish the sup- 

 port afforded to the action of the pectoral muscles ; and the 

 power of the wings, and consequent duration and velocity 

 of their movements, suffer a corresponding diminution. 



With the exception of the alectors or curassoes, few 

 of the gallinaceous species build on trees (in which they 

 differ remarkably from the preceding orders), though all 

 delight in basking on the ground, and scraping in the dry 

 and sultry soil, for which purpose they are provided with 

 muscular limbs and feet. They live upon all sorts of grain 



and seeds, — occasionally upon berries, or the buds of shrubs Rasores. 

 and trees, — and, the younger birds especially, show them- ""— ■~v~~ 

 selves sufficiently eager and expert in the capture of in- 

 sect prey. The females lay a great number of eggs, in a 

 rude and carelessly constructed nest ; and the newly-pro- 

 duced offspring, unlike the callow nestlings of the other 

 orders, though they remain for some time associated with 

 their parents, run swiftly, and pick freely from their first 

 exclusion. The males, particularly towards the breeding 

 season, are quarrelsome and courageous, — indulging in 

 frequent and sometimes fatal contention. They are often 

 furnished with spurs. In the satyr pheasant both sexes 

 are so armed, and the males are moreover provided with a 

 couple of horns. In the polyplectron the tarsi of the male 

 are doubly armed, there being two spurs on each leg. 



In their general form and habits, the particular structure 

 and functions of the digestive system, and the great bene- 

 fits which they confer upon the human race, birds of this 

 order have been observed to bear a considerable resem- 

 blance to the ruminating or herbivorous quadrupeds. Like 

 these, their stomach is of a more complex character, 

 consisting of a dilated membranous pouch or crop, and 

 a muscular gizzard, — in the former of which their food is 

 rendered moist and pulpy, in the latter it is bruised and 

 broken, and otherwise prepared for the production of the 

 life-sustaining chyle ; whereas in accipitrine birds the 

 crop is either inconspicuous or non-existent, and the sto- 

 mach, if not membranous, at least has its muscular coating 

 very thin. The intestine in gallinaceous birds is rather 

 long and wide, of nearly uniform diameter, and provided 

 with two enormous caeca. Their flesh, we need scarcely 

 say, is very delicate, and highly esteemed as a pleasing 

 and nutritious food. It varies considerably in colour, — 

 that of the turkey and common poultry being white, of the 

 moor grouse brownish red, while the breast of the black- 

 cock presents two distinct layers of red and white, the one 

 imposed upon the other. We allude at present to its cu- 

 linary aspect- 

 Naturalists have erred in assigning the polygamous ha- 

 bit as a general characteristic of our present order The 

 instinct to pair, or habit of monogamy, is no doubt be- 

 stowed only on those species to which it is necessary for 

 the sustentation of their young, and differs considerably in 

 the nature and permanence of the attachment, accord- 

 ing as the nest is placed above or upon the surface of the 

 ground. All birds which build on trees, as was long ago 

 observed by Lord Karnes, are hatched blind, or extreme- 

 ly defective in the sense of sight, and almost without fea- 

 thers, — thus requiring the sedulous care of both parents. 

 But the generality even of gallinaceous birds, which breed 

 upon the ground, do likewise pair, though the hatching of 

 the eggs is entirely confided to the female, who completes 

 her task by leading the young towards their proper food, 

 which they are able to select for themselves, being active, 

 completely formed, and well feathered, from their first ex- 

 clusion. What is indeed more beautiful than the fond 

 affection of these devoted creatures, teaching in the blind- 

 ness of instinctive love, a lesson to proud but cold huma- 

 nity? Who knoweth not (now divinely told) how the 

 hen " doth gather her brood beneath her wings ;" how she 

 shelters them from the nipping blast, expanding her downy 

 breast and feathery pinions, till she becomes a populous 

 tabernacle, a living temple of maternal love, beset with 

 small protruding bills, and bright but gentle eyes ; how 

 she will dare, with upraised ruffled plumes, the fiercest on- 

 set of the direst foe, — the callous school-boy with his 

 threatening club, the snarling cur-dog with his ivory fangs, 

 the insidious weasel, creeping serpent-like through tangled 

 herbage, or the bolder bird of prey, " lord of the lion 



1 Gallin.s, Linn. 



