NAKED SKIN. 83 



times there is only a naked spot or tubercle over the 

 eye ; in other cases there is a projection of naked skin 

 on the top of the head, as in the domestic cock, which 

 is called a comb, because it is often pectinated, or 

 divided in its margin. Sometimes also there are 

 pendent portions of naked skin hanging from the 

 sides of the under-jaw, or from the cheeks, and these 

 are called ivattles. In some instances the anterior 

 portion of the throat is entirely covered by tubercu- 

 lated portions of naked skin; and that is often 

 capable of inflation, as in the case of a male turkey. 

 In other instances, again, the entire neck and greater 

 part of the ^ head are naked, and often beautifully 

 coloured, as is the case in the king vulture. When a 

 large portion of the throat or neck is naked, there is 

 generally some portion of the neck or breast covered 

 with hair, or at least with feathers very much 

 resembling hair in their form ; but what connexion 

 there is between the nakedness of one part and this 

 species of covering on an adjoining one has not been 

 ascertained. 



When the naked skin on the head, or partially on 

 the neck, covers appendages rather than the natural 

 form of the parts, it is found principally in the male 

 birds ; and in the pairing season, these appendages 

 increase in size and heighten in colour, their general 

 colour being red of some shade or other, often with 

 blue reflections ; but in many birds they are, at the 

 season alluded to, of the most intense scarlet. The 

 females of the gallinaceous birds, have generally some 

 portions of naked skin on the sides of the head, 

 which bloom and fade with the season, in the same 

 manner as those of the males, though not with equal 

 intensity. 



No particular name is given to the naked skin on 

 g2 



