608 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



Rasores. apprehension of their danger, though they would dodge or 

 ^—~v~"-' fly instantly at the sight of the owl. The gobblers, during 

 the season of their amorous excitement, have been known 

 even to strut over their dead companions while on the 

 ground, instead of seeking their own safety by flight. In 

 the spring, the male turkeys are called by a whistle made 

 of the second joint bone of the wing of the bird, which 

 produces a sound somewhat similar to the voice of the fe- 

 male ; and on coming up to this call they are consequent- 

 ly shot. They are likewise commonly caught in quadran- 

 gular pens made of logs crossing each other, from which 

 is cut a slanting covered passage sufficient to allow the 

 entrance of the turkey. Corn is then scattered in a train 

 to this cage for some distance, as well as within ; and 

 the neighbouring birds, in the surrounding woods, hav- 

 ing discovered the grain, call on each other by a cluck- 

 ing, and entering one at a time, they become secur- 

 ed in the pen, as, for the purpose of escape, they constant- 

 ly direct their view upwards, instead of stooping to go out 

 by the path by which they had entered. The male wild 

 turkey weighs commonly from fifteen to eighteen pounds, 

 is not unfrequently as much as twenty-five, and some- 

 times, according to Audubon, even thirty-six. The hen 

 commonly weighs about nine pounds ; and the usual 

 price for a turkey from the Indians is twenty-five cents.'' 1 



The only other species of turkey is a very rare and 

 beautiful bird (M. ocellata, Cuv.), of which, we believe, 

 only a single specimen is yet known. It was captured by 

 the crew of a vessel who were cutting wood in the Bay 

 of Honduras, and was brought alive to the Thames, for pre- 

 sentation to Sir Henry Harford, but met with an accident 

 which caused its death. It afterwards became the pro- 

 perty of Mr Bullock ; and on the dispersion of his collec- 

 tion, was purchased by the French government for the 

 Paris Museum. It is nearly equal in size to the common 

 turkey. The tail is less ample, but its colours are more 

 varied and beautiful, almost rivalling those of the peacock 

 in its little mirrors of sapphire, surrounded by circles of 

 gold and ruby. 2 



The species known to us by the name of Guinea fowls, 

 form the genus Numida, Linn. The head is bare, the 

 top in some crested, and the throat wattled. They are 

 all either from Africa or Madagascar. 



The great genus Phasianus, Linn., including our cocks 

 and pheasants, has the cheeks more or less bare of fea- 

 thers, usually covered by a scarlet skin, and the tail-fea- 

 thers so placed as to slope downwards, roof-like, from 

 either side. The group was soon found to be too exten- 

 sive and varied in its component parts to accord with the 

 preciser views of modern times, and several subdivisions 

 have been in consequence effected. 

 . The restricted genus Gallus, for example (Plate 

 CCCXCVIII. figs. 3 and 3 a), of which the head is gene- 

 rally surmounted by a fleshy vertical crest, the base of 

 the lower mandible furnished with two flattened wattles, 

 and the tail-feathers, fourteen in number, rising in two 

 almost upright planes, with ample coverts in the male sex, 

 contains, among other remarkable species, our domestic 

 cock and hen ( Gallus domesticus — Phasianus gallus, Linn.). 

 The general attributes or special qualities of this brave, vi- 

 gilant, and invaluable species, need not be here recorded ; 

 and indeed a volume would scarcely suffice to describe its 

 numerous variations, from the pure undaunted blood of 

 Derby, fearless of death, to the crested dung-hill breed, 

 almost equally pugnacious, and by no means cowardly, yet 

 apt to turn tail on the sudden touch of unexpected steel. 



In our present paragraph we avail ourselves in part of 

 a recent brief compendium. The cocks with ample crests, 



and five toes, — the rumpless cock, and those of many- 

 mingled colours, — appear to have arisen chiefly from the ' 

 various and prolonged circumstances attending domestica- 

 tion, and the intentional crossing of the breeds. The 

 most picturesque are those with superabundant crests, and 

 full auricular plumes. The crest is composed of narrow, 

 hackled feathers, which grow erect from the head, but 

 fall down in graceful curves, sometimes of such length as 

 to shadow or overhang the eyes. In some districts this 

 breed is much cultivated, being esteemed in proportion 

 as the colours of the body and crest can be made to form 

 the most conspicuous contrast, the body black, the crest 

 white, and vice versa. Other admired fancy breeds are 

 the Dutch pencilled fowl, which are pure white, with black 

 spots ; the Siberian fowl, with long tufts ofhanging feathers 

 springing from the lower jaw; and the Barbary fowl, of a 

 pale dun colour, with the feathers of the neck extremely 

 ample, and spotted with black. But a more singular ano- 

 maly is exhibited by those with five toes, commonly called 

 dorkings, from being bred in most abundance in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Dorking, Surrey. This race is easily conti- 

 nued, and is much esteemed for the table, being white 

 and large. Dr Latham records one which weighed near- 

 ly fourteen pounds. A still more remarkable race is that 

 without a tail, the rumpless or Persian cock, as it is some- 

 times called, which actually wants a portion of the caudal 

 vertebrae. These are usually regarded as mere varieties, 

 for the most part, probably, of accidental origin. There 

 are, however, three races of cocks, of a very marked cha- 

 racter, although their claim to actual specific distinction 

 cannot be yet made out. The first is Gallus morio, of 

 which the periosteum of the bones is black, and the comb, 

 wattles, and skin, of a dull purple. It has received the 

 name of negro or blackamoor cock, but is scarcely ever 

 seen in the poultry-yards of this country. The other two 

 races are more frequent, and are known as the silky cock 

 (G. lanatus), and the Friesland cock (G. crispus). M. 

 Temminck is inclined to regard the former as a distinct 

 species. It occurs in China and Japan, where it is sold 

 as a rarity to Europeans. In this country it crosses easily 

 with the white domestic breed, and a mixed race is pro- 

 duced with the feathers still silky, but less disunited. It 

 is singular that the skin and periosteum of this kind are of 

 the same sable hue with those of G. morio, although the 

 flesh is remarkable for its whiteness. The size is rather 

 small, the plumage of the purest white, the comb and 

 wattles purple. The Friesland cock evidently belongs to 

 the opposition, having all the feathers turned the wrong 

 way, or standing nearly at right angles with the body. 

 The general colour of the plumage of this kind is also 

 white, but it varies like that of other captive races. It 

 occurs in the domesticated state in Java and Sumatra ; 

 but M. Temminck thinks it is also a distinct species, pe- 

 culiar in the wild state to some unexplored quarter of the 

 Indian islands. 3 We doubt that nature, in her first in- 

 tent, should ever have produced such an oddity. 



Many fanciful and superstitious feelings are still main- 

 tained regarding the domestic cock, and his nocturnal 

 crowing ; and even his more familiar morning salutation is 

 supposed to dispel all spirits, " whether in sea or fire, in 

 earth or air." 



Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes 

 Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrate, 

 The bird of dawning singeth all night long ; 

 And then, they say, no spirit walks abroad ; 

 The nights are wholesome ; then no planets strike ; 

 No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm ; 

 So hallowed and so gracious is the time. 



Rasores. 



• Manual, vol. i. p. 640. 



2 M!m. du Museum, vi. pi. 1 ; and PI. Col, 112. 

 3 Naturalist's Library, vol. iii. p. 173. 



