OPENING ADDRESS. 17 



species of the genus Anthropoides which my late friend 

 Dr. Latham had done me the honour to distinguish by 

 my name, in consequence of my having the good fortune 

 first to draw his attention to the bird, which I had seen 

 in the Tower of London, then under the care of Mr. Cops ; 

 but not one of them had ever shewn any chance of a sign 

 of breeding, until, in the year 1843, my Superintendent, 

 Thompson, thought he saw in two of them an inclination 

 to pair, and he immediately determined to separate them 

 from all others of the same kind, in a small paddock 

 behind his own house, in which were the Elands and 

 some large fowls. The plan . succeeded, for in the next 

 year, (1844) the hen had seven eggs, but scattered about 

 in different parts of the paddock, without any appearance 

 of a nest. From this circumstance I entertained little, if 

 any, expectation of any good being derived from them, 

 but we decided to put them into the hatching-machine, 

 and the result was, that while six out. of the seven proved 

 barren, the seventh produced a chicken, which however 

 was always delicate and lived but a very short time, not 

 above two or three days. 



" The system of seclusion was continued, and in the 

 spring of 1845 she laid five eggs, which Thompson placed 

 at first under a turkey, but not considering her a suffici- 

 ently good nurse, when the period of hatching drew near, 

 he took them from her and put them under a large hen, 

 of a somewhat Indian breed. Two of the five proved 

 addled ; the other three had birds in them, of which 

 the third died in the shell ; but two were hatched, and 

 far from shewing any disposition to remain in the nest 

 and be fed, they from the first took to their legs, and 

 followed the example of so many chickens or partridges, 

 actively running about and picking up the food thrown 

 to them, and even taking from the hand. They ap- 





