1062 = The American Naturalist. [December, 
some convenient bough not far away, where it stands with out- 
stretched neck somewhat after the manner of our wild turkey, 
anxious as to the cause of alarm below. It is a shy timid 
bird, attentive to its own business solely, yet, like all such 
creatures, frequently carried away by curiosity. 
Its enemies are many, for the flesh is sweet and the eggs 
nutritious. It would seem, therefore, as if for this defenseless, 
inoffensive creature, Nature would have provided some special 
protection. So indeed she has, since in the dusky hue, that 
blends readily with the forest surroundings, the Talegallus is 
furnished with the best possible protective coloring, but Nature 
oftentimes appears to delight in being capricious or inconsist- 
ent; she here gives an invisible cloak but as if to neutralize 
the gift, she bestows also.a loud, dissonant voice that invites 
everything within hearing to come and see to what it belongs ; 
and, as if this were not enough, the poor creature is obliged by 
hapless fate to call public attention to the depository in which 
its treasures are laid, by the vast size of the structure erected 
for their concealment. 
The general color of the birds is a sober brown, unrelieved 
by any touch of brightness, unless it be in the pale yellow of 
the legs. The neck of one species is flushed with red, while in 
another a warm dark gray reaches as far asthe abdomen. In 
some cases a delicate shading of browns produces a pleasing 
effect on the body and wings. The bill is dark, short and 
compact. 
Four species are known, namely, Talegallus lathamii of Aus- 
tralia and.New Guinea, T. jobiensis, T. cuvierii and T. fusciros- 
tris. D’Albertis calls the last nova species. It would seem as 
if some or all of these might be domesticated. The first men- 
tioned is a large bird, in shape and size the counterpart of the 
female turkey, of a uniformly dark brown plumage and long 
neck denuded of a compact covering of feathers, but having 
instead a coarse dull-red skin scantily-clothed with short, stiff 
feathered shafts. The head presents a similar appearance. 
The tail is long and keel shaped, and like the wings dull of hue. 
There isa slight interfusion of gray on the under parts, im- 
parting a mottled appearance to the thighs and abdomen. 
