GALUNZE. 225 



iraca, Buifon ; Phasianus motmot, Gmelin ; Ph. parraqna. Lath). The cry of this bird is very lond, an-d articu- 

 lates its njiiiie. The tracliea of the male descends beneath the skin as low as the abdomenj and then ascends to 

 enter the thorax. 



\Yith these difFereut Curassows Las been generally associated 



The Hoazin (O/jis/hocomus, Hofmanscgg,) — 

 An American bird, which has the same port, and a short and thick hill, with nostrils pierced in its 

 corneous substance, without any membrane. The head is adorned with an occipital crest of long fea- 

 thers, very narrow and thinly barbed; and what distinguishes it from all the true I'uultry, is the total 

 absence of membrane between the toes. 



This bird is the /-^//cf.y/^ji)/.? cr/siafus, Lin. ; of a g-reenish-brown, vnriegated with white above, the front of the 

 neck and tip of the tail fulvous, and the belly chestnut. It is found in Guiana, perching along; the niari^^in of 

 inundated places, where it subsists on leaves and the seeds of a species of Arum. Its flesh smells fetronply of 

 castor, and is only employed as a bait for particular fishes. It fonns a g-enus very distinct from any other among- 

 the Poultry, and when its anatomy is known, may become the type of a particular family. 



[This very curious bird is perhaps the most insulated species of the whole class : its eyelashes, and reticulated 

 tarsi, help to separate it externally from the Poultry ; and its anatomy is altofi;ether unique, exhibitin;^ a peculiar 

 adaptation for deriving- nutriment exclusively from foliage. The crop, of enormous dimensions, hollows out, as 

 it were, the pectoral muscles and anterior portion of the sternal keel, occupying a great heart-shaped cavity, and 

 extending backward half-way along- the trunk and at least four-fifths the length of the sternal appai'atus ; it 

 receives the superior portion of the cesophagus on the left side, and on the riyht is succeeded by an inflated canal, 

 Ave inches and a half long, constricted like the human colon, and terminated by the proventiiculus, to which 

 follows the gizzard, wdiich latter is no bigger than an olive, with its muscular coat scarcely thickened ; the intes- 

 tines are moderately long, and cceca an inch. The stenial crest, so deeply cut away in front, forms a slight ridge 

 anteriorly, which is continued forward into a very long bony apophysis, that is soldered with the furoula ; the 

 hindward emarginations are inconsiderable, the exterior pair being commonly reduced to a foramen, or even quite 

 ossified. This bird is not naturally wild, and is obsen'ed in small flocks, which commonly perch side by side on 

 some branch, always in marshy situations.* It ai^i'ears to have only ten tail-feaihei's. 



AVc now arrive at the normal scries of Poultry-birds, which have the hind-toe small and 



elevated.] 



The rEAFOwi. {Pavo, Lin.), — 

 So namcil (Poon) from their cry, and which are characterized by a crest of pecnliar form, and by the 

 tail-coverts of the male extending far beyond the quills, and being capable of erection into a broad and 

 gorgeous disk. The shining, lax, and silky barbs of these feathers, and the eye-like spots wliieh 

 decorate their extremities, are well known to every one, as exemplified in 



The liulian Peafowl {P. iiidicii.v, Lin.}, the head of wht(;)i is adorned with an aigrette of narrow vertical feathers, 

 v/idened at the tips. This superb bird, origiiially from the north of India, [where it still exists abundantly in a 

 state of natuj-e], was introduced into Europe by Alexander. The wild specimens even surpass the domestic ones 

 in brilliancy. The blue extends over the back and wings, instead of the common barred markings; and then- 

 ti-ain is still longer. [We have seen domestic I'eacocks with these characters, which howe\ er are not attained by 

 the greater number ; and have also obsen'ed wild-shot birds like the ordinary' breed, which it may be suspected 

 hatl not acquired their final colouring; the developement of which would seem to be generally arrested in the 

 former, so much so that we have seen an individual more than eighteen years of age, that did not difl'er from the 

 common farm-yard specimens]. 



The Japanese Peafowl {badly named by Linna'us P. mH/yV(f.yt> fis it possesses spurs), is a distinct species, the 

 aigrette of which is composed of long and narrow feathers; its neck is green instead of blur, and midated or 

 gilded : train scarcely differing from that of the other. 



[The additional species ranged by the author among the Peafowl are distinct enough, and now 

 generally known as 



The Pea-pheasants {Polyplectron, Tern.). 

 They are much smaller, and particularly remarkable for the tarsi of tlie male bearing two or more 

 spurs.] The tail-coverts, which do not extend beyond the tail, and are webbed in tlie ordinary manner, 

 have two brilliant metaUic spots, and the wing-tertials have sometimes single ones. 

 [Three or four species are known, from the mountains of eastern Asia ] 



The Impeyan {Lophophorus, Tern.). 

 The bead surmounted by an aigrette like that of a Peafowl, and a similar Hat tail, the coverts of wJiicb, 



" l-fI(.Tiniiiicr, in .■hnniirs lies Sciences Nalurellcs for lai?. ] "■liich iva^ afterwards cuutinucd, this bird linving no ]i;ir-li i:r>- like 



+ W" ill pi-cl tliat tills iiiimt. originatifil in a niiajiriiil for mutin, 1 llic t.lber.—Eo. 



