210 LECTURE VI. 



The P. ignitus or Fire-backed Pheasant, de- 

 scribed in Sir George Staunton's Account of the 

 Embassy to China, is a species, which till tjiat 

 period had either never been described, or so im- 

 properly and indistinctly as to convey no just idea 

 of the bird. I confess however that I have some 

 suspicion of its being very nearly allied to the 

 Guan of Edwards's Ornithology. If so, it has been 

 referred by Linnaeus and others to a wrong genu$, 

 and considered as a species of Turkey. 



The Turkey, so long domesticated in tbjs 

 country as well as in most other parts of Europe, 

 is a native of North America, and by no means of 

 India, as sometimes imagined. The genus to 

 which the Turkey belongs is called Meleagris, 

 and is distinguished by a short, thick bill, and the 

 head and throat covered by spongy tuberculated, 

 bare, reddish, or other coloured membrane. The 

 Turkey in its native regions of North America 

 is commonly of a- black colour, accompanied by a 

 coppery and greenish gloss. It is seen in nu- 

 merous flocks, and is principally found in woods. 

 A very fine specimen of the Wild American Tur- 

 key may be seen in the Leverian Museum. The 



