CURASSOWS, GUANS 



(311) 



Ortalis vetula 



Baird 



mccalli 



(Gr., a piillet). 



CHACHALACA; TEXAN GUAN. 

 Head crested. Space about the 

 eyes and on each side of the chin, 

 naked, orange-colored. Wings short 

 and convex. Tail very long, broad 

 and rounded. Plumage as shown; 

 the back has a brassy lustre and the 

 tail is more or less glossed with green- 

 ish. Sexes alike in plumage. L., 

 23.00; W., 8.00; T., ir.oo; Tar. 

 2.00. Nest — A frail platform of 

 sticks placed in bushes a few feet 

 above ground. The three or four 

 white eggs have a rough, granular 

 surface, like those of a Guinea-fowl, 

 2.30 X 1.60. 



Range — Abundant in Lower Rio 

 Grande Valley, Texas; south through 

 Mexico. 



Family PHASIANID^. Pheasants 



A Family represented in this country only by introduced 

 species, best established of which are 



RING-NECKED PHEASANTS. These beautiful fowls 

 were first liberated in Oregon, where they thrived exceedingly 

 well. They were then introduced into various sections of 

 the Eastern States, in some of which they have apparently 

 taken a permanent foothold. Beyond a little dignified 

 strutting, they have no eccentricities during the mating 

 season. The cock birds do, however, often indulge in battles 

 in which the sharp spurs are used with telling effect, the 

 loser running away like a vanquished rooster, with his victor 

 close on his heels. 



Family CRACID^E. Curassows and Guans 



A Family so differing from all the preceding fowls that it 

 is placed under a sub-order, PENELOPES. 



IQI 



