THE CRESTED CURASSOW. 75 



THE CRESTED CURASSOW, 



;IN THE ROYAL MENAGERY, TOWER OF LONDON. 



Considering the great facility with which these birds could be introduced into this country, and the 

 valuable acquisition which they would make to our farm-yards, by furnishing them with a new breed 

 of poultry, possessing all the advantages and merits, and in some respects in a higher degree, of our 

 domestic gallinaceous fowls, it is a matter of surprise that so little attention has been paid to the 

 acclimation of the curassow in this country. They possess all the necessary qualifications for their 

 introduction amongst our gallinaceous fowls, being quite familiar in their habits, and appearing to 

 accustom themselves to a state of comparative confinement with the greatest facility, and without any 

 apparent diminution of their health or cheerfulness. The turkey itself, of which ^the _curassow is a 

 species, was not introduced into England until the reign of Henry VIII., and was as wild in the 

 woods of North America, as the curassow is at present in those of the Southern Continent. It must 

 not, however, be concealed, that the turkey is with us a degenerated bird ; for Josselyn says, that in 

 the wilds of America he has eaten part of a turkey-cock which, after it was plucked, and the entrails 

 were taken out, weighed thirty pounds; and Lawson, whose authority is unquestionable, saw half a 

 turkey serve eight hungry men for two meals, and says, that he had seen others which he believed 

 would each weigh forty pounds, and some writers assert that instances have occurred of turkeys 

 weighing sixty pounds. We have alluded to the acclimation of the common turkey, from 

 some fears which we have heard expressed that the climate of this country would not be congenial to 

 the breeding and rearing of the curassow, and that if the turkey has degenerated, coming from a more 

 northern latitude, it could not be rationally expected that the breed of the curassow could for any 

 length of time be maintained in this country, and that it would ultimately so dwindle away, as not to 

 make the rearing of it an object worthy the attention of the private breeder or the farmer. It should, 

 however, be taken into consideration, that the curassow, according to M. Temminck, was once 

 thoroughly acclimated in Holland, where, in a state of domestication, it was as prolific as an)' others 

 of the gallinaceous tribe. It is much to be regretted, that the establishment at which these birds were 

 bred was broken up by one of those commotions attendant on the French Revolution, and conse- 

 quently the whole labour was lost, which had been expended in reducing them to a state of 

 domestication. We believe it to be the intention of the Zoological Society to attempt the acclimation 

 of this bird, and to introduce it as one of the members of our farm -yards ; an event which will be 

 desirable, not only on account of the size and beauty of the bird, but also on account of the delicacy 

 and excellence of the flesh, which, by those who have partaken of it, is said to surpass that of the 

 pheasant or the common turkey. 



The plumage of the crested curassow is of a deep black, with a slight greenish hue on the head, 

 crest, wings, back, and upper part of the tail. It is however remarkable, that this greenish hue pre- 

 sents itself to the eye only when the bird is viewed from a particular position ; for if that position be 

 changed to the opposite direction, the same parts appear to be a uniform black, and other parts which 

 had the black appearance assume the greenish hue. This singularity is, however, by no means pecu- 

 liar to the curassow, for it is common with all birds whose colour is black, as in the raven and the 

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