PHA SIANID^ : PUEA SANTS. 



575 





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which the trachea is convoluted in an nppen(hige to the furculum ; Acrytlium vulturina, Agelas- 

 tes meleagrides, and Phasidus niger, are the remaining ones. 



The PhasianidcB, or Pheasants, are a magnificent family of typical Gallinu', of which the 

 domestic fowl is a characteristic example. Tlie feet, nasal foss;e, and usually a part, if not tlie 

 whole, of the head, are naked, and often comhed, horned, (jr wattled. The tarsi commonly 

 develop spurs. The tail, with or witliout its coverts, sometimes has an extraordinary develop- 

 ment or a remarkahle shape (p. 118). There are fifty or si.'cty species, distrihuted in numerous 

 modern genera, ahout 

 twelve of which are 

 well marked; they 

 are all indigenous to 

 Asia and neighbor- 

 ing islands, focusing 

 in India. In the 

 Peacock, Pavo cris- 

 tcdiif:, the tail-coverts 

 firm a superb train, 

 capable of erection 

 into a disli, the most 

 gorgeous object in 

 ornithology ; in an 

 allied genus, Pohj- 

 2>l"Ctron, there are a 

 pair of spurs on each 

 leg. The Argus 

 Pheasant, Argusa- 

 nus gigantetis, is dis- 

 tinguished by the 

 enormous develop- 

 ment of the secon- 

 dary quills, as well 

 as by tlie length of 

 the tail-feathers and 

 peculiarity of the 

 middle pair. The 

 combed, wattled, and 

 spurred bai'u - yard 

 ffjwl, with folded tail 

 and flowing middle 

 feathers, are descend- 

 ants of Gallus bank- 

 iva, type of a small 



genus. The Tragopans, Ceriornis, are an allied form with few species; the Macartneys, 

 Euplocomus, with a dozen species, are an(jther near form, as are the Impeyans, Loph^phorus 

 with a slender aigrette on the head, like a peacock's. The naturalized English pheasant, P. 

 colchicus (fig. 39i), introduced into Britain prior to A. D. 1056, is the type of Phasianus, in 

 which the tail-feathers are very long and narrow ; in one species, P. reevesii, the tail is said 

 to attain a length of six feet. The Gcdden and Amherstian Pheasants, C/trj/soto/j/tMS pictus and 

 C. amherstia, are singularly beautiful, even for this group. The other genera are Crossoptilon 

 and Pucrasia. 



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Fig. 395. — Turkey. (From Lewis.) 



