PINTADOS.— PHEASANTS. 



proportion as they are superior, and each one is terminated by 

 numerous brilliant metallic circles ; the female is destitute of this 

 ornament, the richness and beauty of which, known throughout 

 the world, are beyond description, particularly when the bird 

 spreads its tail. The Peacock is still widely diffused in the wild 

 state, in the north of India, and in most parts of the Indian 

 archipelago. 



12. The Pintados, or Guinea-Fow-ls, — Nvmida, — {Plate 5, 

 Jig. 1.) have a naked head with fleshy wattles on the lower part 



of the cheeks, and the cranium is generally surmounted by a 

 callous crest ; their feet are without spurs ; their tail is short 

 and pendent ; and the feathers of the rump give the body a 

 rounded form. 



13. All the Pintados are originally from Africa; they live in 

 numerous troops under bushes, and in copses, where they seek 

 berries and small snails on which they feed. The European 

 species have been transported to the New World, where, in 

 many places, they have become naturalised in the wild state. 



14. FHEkSAWTs, — Phasianus, — {Plate 4, fg. 11.) are naked 

 around the eyes, and the cheeks are covered by a red skin, or by 

 very short feathers ; they have no crest, and the lower mandible 

 is without wattles ; the tail quills, eighteen in number in most of 

 the species, are placed on each other in two layers like shingles 

 on the roof of a house, or in other words, the tail is tectiform, 

 and maintained in a horizontal position. 



This genus is divided into many sub-genera, among which we 

 will cite the Cocks, and Pheasants properly so called. 



15. The Cocks, — Gallus, — have a beak naked at the base, 

 furnished with two pendent and compressed caruncles ; the head 

 is surmounted by a fleshy crest, or a bundle of feathers ; the 

 tarsi are armed with long, curved spurs, and only the end of the 

 thumb rests on the ground ; the wings are short ; the quills of 

 the tail, fourteen in number, form two vertical planes, placed 

 back to back ; in the male the coverts of the latter are prolonged 

 into an arch over the tail proper. 



16. The Common Cock, — Phasiamis gallus, — the female of 

 which is called a Hen, is originally from India ; it is still met 

 with wild^ in the mountains of Hindoostan, but in the domestic 



12. How are Guincu-fowls characterised ? 



13. To what country did the Pintados originally belong? What are their 

 habits .? 



14. What are the characters of Pheasants? 



15. How are the Cocks characterised ? 



16. To what country does the Common Cock belong ? 



