398 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Turkeys 



Early in March they begin to pair, the females 

 having previously assumed a solitary mode of life, 

 feeding and roosting apart by themselves; when 

 they call, the males'respond, and the woods some- 

 times resound for miles with the clamour. Rival 

 males often engage in mortal combat. As soon as 

 the females begin to lay, they relinquish the society 

 of their mates, and soon attend exclusively to the 

 duty of incubation ; the nest, which consists of a few 

 leaves, is artfully concealed in some brake or under 

 the covert of a dense thicket, and the female both 

 leaves and visits her nest with the greatest caution, 

 lest the male should discover it, in which case he 

 would ferociously crush the eggs in a moment. The 

 crow, the polecat, and the snake are also dreaded ; 

 and it often happens that several hens associate 

 together for mutual safety, rearing their broods in one 

 united nest, which is always watched by one or more, 

 so that no crow, raven, or polecat dares approach it. 

 When the young are hatched, the female leads them 

 abroad, keeping an anxious and incessant watch lest 

 hawks and other enemies, including the turkey-cock, 

 should attack them ; the troop moves onwards, keep- 

 ing to the higher grounds, for the young are only 

 covered with down, and if wetted in this stage of 

 their existence seldom survive. At the expiration 

 of about a fortnight they are able to raise themselves 

 from the ground, on which they have hitherto reposed 

 at night, and follow their mother to a perch on the 

 low arm of a tree, where they nestle under her 

 broadly curved wings. The brood varies in number 

 from ten to fifteen or eighteen. The growth of the 

 young is rapid. In August, though still led by their 

 respective parents, several broods associate together, 

 and the young display almost as much alertness in 

 securing their safety as do the adults. 



In colour the wild turkey closely resembles the 

 bronzed black varieties of the domestic race, 

 but the plumage is more brilliant, gleaming with 

 violet, green, and gold according to the incidence 

 of the light. The long pectoral tassel of hair, and 

 the naked, changeable, carunculated skin of the 

 head and throat, are the same in the wild as in the 

 domesticated race. Fig. 1751 represents the Gizzard 

 of the Turkey. 



1752. — The Honduras Turkey 

 (Meleagris ocellatd). Beautiful as is the common 

 wild turkey of North America, it is far surpassed by 

 the Honduras turkey, which rivals the peacock in its 

 gorgeous dress, effulgent with golden bronze, steel 

 blue, emerald green, and velvet black. A specimen 

 of this rare bird, once in Bullock's museum, is now 

 in that of Paris. Of the habits of the species, which 

 appears to inhabit the vast forests of Honduras, no- 

 thing is known. The specimen in question was one 

 of three seen by a crew employed in cutting wood, 

 and captured alive. It died after its arrival in the 

 Thames, in consequence of an accident. 



1718, d.— The Guinea-Fowl 



(Numida Meleagris). Fig. 1753 shows the Head of 

 this species, which is the Gallina di Numidia of the 

 Italians, Pintade of the French, Pintado of the 

 Spanish, Perl Huhn of the Germans. 



The guinea-fowJ, or Pintado, as its name indicates, 

 is originally from Africa. It was known to the an- 

 cient Greeks and Romans, and received from the 

 former the name of Meleagris. According to the 

 ancient fable, the sisters of Meleager, mourning the 

 death of their brother, were turned into birds called 

 Meleagrides (in the singular Meleagris), having their 

 feathers sprinkled with tear-drops. The term Me- 

 leagris, however, strange to say, has been transferred 

 by Belon, Gesner, Aldrovandus, and others to the 

 turkey, a native of America, and of which the an- 

 cients had no information. 



The guinea-fowl is noticed by Aristotle, by Pliny, 

 by Varro ('De Re Rustica'), and by Columella, a 

 writer on husbandry in the reign of Claudius Caesar, 

 and by others. According to Athenaeus, the JEto- 

 lians first introduced this bird into Greece ; but 

 though it must have been naturalized there, it does 

 not appear to have spread very widely. In the 

 middle ages we lose all trace of it ; no writers of those 

 times appear to notice it, nor can we distinctly point 

 out the period of its introduction into the British 

 Isles. This, however, must be comparatively recent ; 

 its name does not occur in the list of birds in the 

 famous feast of Archbishop Nevill, in the reign 

 of Edward IV. ; nor does it appear in the Duke of 

 Northumberland's Household Book, 1512; nor yet 

 in the Household-Book of Henry VIII. Yet, in 

 all these lists, the peion, or peacock, makes a con- 

 spicuous figure. 



In the early part of the eighteenth century the 

 guinea-fowl was tolerably common in England, and 

 is now completely naturalized. 



Adanson, Dampier, Le Vaillant, and other travel- 

 lers in Africa, have observed the wild guinea-fowl 

 in different parts of that continent; but, as about 

 six species are known, we cannot be certain which 

 of them is intended. 



The common guinea-fowl (Numida Meleagris) 

 appears to be dispersed through an extensive range 

 of Africa, frequenting low humid situations, and the 

 banks of rivers and marshes. It is eminently gre- 

 garious, assembling in large flocks, which wander 

 about during the day in search of food ; as evening 

 approaches, they seek the branches of trees, and roost 

 crowded together. In its rapid mode of running, 

 and in its short flight when forced to take wing, we 

 are reminded of the partridge, which it also some- 

 what resembles in the contour of its body. 



A wild race of these birds is found in St. Domingo 

 and others of the West India islands ; this race is 

 said to have been imported from Guinea. 



In a domestic condition, the guinea-fowl retains 

 almost unaltered its original habits ; it is restless, 

 addicted to wandering, and impatient of restraint. 

 It will stray for miles from the farm to which it be- 

 longs, and it often happens that a long-missed 

 female will make her appearance with a young 

 brood attending her. In close confinement the 

 female rarely hatches her eggs, the want of freedom 

 interfering with her instincts ; few birds indeed are 

 more recluse and shy during the time of incubation, 

 or more cautious in concealing their nests. It is 

 generally made among dense brushwood or in simi- 

 lar retreats. The number of eggs varies from twelve 

 to twenty. They are smaller than those of the fowl, 

 of a pale yellowish red, minutely dotted with darker 

 points. Both the eggs and flesh of the guinea-fowl 

 are excellent. Cream-coloured guinea-fowls are 

 sometimes to be seen ; in these the white spots are 

 still to be distinguished. Another variety has a 

 white breast, and the general colouring destitute of 

 the richness which renders the wild and the unde- 

 generate domestic race so attractive. The shrill 

 querulous notes of this bird, which it perpetually 

 repeats, are very disagreeable. The guinea-fowl 

 has not yet reached the" colder latitudes of Europe ; 

 it is not mentioned by Linnaeus in his Swedish 

 Fauna ; and it is said that neither Denmark, Nor- 

 way, nor Northern Russia possesses it. 



1754. — The Crested Guinea-Fowl, or Pintado 

 {Numida cristata). This species is Jess than the 

 common guinea-fowl : its head is crested wiih hair- 

 like feathers ; the general plumage is bluish black 

 spotted with grey. Quills yellowish brown ; edges 

 of the secondaries pure white. ' 



Family TETRAONID^ (GROUSE). 



Under this family title most naturalists include 

 not only the true Grouse, but the Partridges, Quails, 

 Francolins, &c, which, however, by some modern 

 naturalists are regarded as a subfamily, under the 

 name of Perdicinse. 



With regard to the true grouse, it is of the moor- 

 land and heath, the wild plain or mountain, the 

 barren rock and the dense pine-forest, that they are 

 respectively the tenants. Linnaeus comprehended 

 them all, together with the Partridges and Quails, 

 in one genus, Tetrao ; modern naturalists, however, 

 have subdivided this genus into many, often on 

 superficial grounds. A better estimate of the cha- 

 racters of these birds will be formed from a consi- 

 deration of our pictorial specimens than from verbal 

 definitions. 



1755, 1756. — The Capercaillie, Capercali, 

 or Capercailzie 



(Tetrao Urogallus). Cock of the Wood; Cock of 

 the Mountain. Coq de Bruyere of Buffon ; Kjader 

 of the ' Fauna Sueeica ;' Tjader-hona of Hasselquist ; 

 Auer-Hahn of Frisch; Auerwaldhuhn of Bech- 

 stein : Ceiliog Coed of the ancient British. 



That this noble bird was once indigenous in the 

 British islands, and till lately lingered in the High- 

 lands of Scotland and some districts of Ireland (viz. 

 in the county of Tipperary, 1760), has been clearly 

 proved ; but the forests which once sheltered it 

 have been thinned or cut down, and from this cause 

 and others it appears to have been entirely extir- 

 pated ; we say " to have been," because for some 

 years past various attempts have been made to in- 

 troduce the species again into the woods of the 

 Highlands, and, we believe, with considerable suc- 

 cess. 



The Capercaillie is abundant in Norway, Sweden, 

 Russia towards Siberia, the north of Asia, and some 

 parts of Germany and Hungary, wherever pine- 

 forests of sufficient extent afford it a home. It is 

 found in several parts of the Alps. The male is 

 equal in size to a turkey, weighing from eight to 

 twelve pounds or even more ; some have exceeded 

 fifteen. The female is considerably smaller. The 

 breeding-season commences early in the spring, 

 before the snow is off the ground ; at this period the 

 cock stations himself on a pine, and commences his 

 call to the females or " play" as it is termed in 

 Sweden. This, says Mr. Lloyd, ' ' is usually from the 

 first dawn of day to sunrise, or from a little after 

 sunset until it is quite dark. The time, however, 



more or less depends upon the mildness of the wea- 

 ther and the advanced state of the season. 



" During his play, the neck of the capercali is 

 stretched out, his tail is raised and spread like a l'an 

 his wings droop, his feathers are ruffled up, and. in 

 short, he much resembles in appearance an angry 

 turkey-cock. He begins his play with a call some- 

 thing resembling peller, peller, peller ; these sounds 

 he repeats at first at some little intervals, but as 

 he proceeds they increase in rapidity, until at last, 

 and after perhaps the lapse of a minute or so, he 

 makes a sort of gulp in his throat and finishes with 

 sucking in, as it were, his breath. 



"During the continuance of this latter process, 

 which only lasts a few seconds, the head of the ca- 

 percali is thrown up, his eyes are partially closed, 

 and his whole appearance would denote that he is 

 worked up into an agony of passion. At this time 

 his faculties are much absorbed, and it is not diffi- 

 cult to approach him: many, indeed, and among 

 the rest Mr. Nilsson, assert that the capercali can 

 then neither see nor hear, and that he is not aware 

 ot the report or flash of a gun, even ft' fired imme- 

 diately near to him. To this assertion I cannot 

 agree, for though it is true that, if the capercali has 

 not been much disturbed previously, he is not easily 

 frightened during the last notes of his play, yet, 

 should the contrary be the case, he is constantly 

 on the watch, and I have reason to know that, 

 even at that time, if noise be made, or that a per- 

 son exposes himself incautiously, he takes alarm and 

 immediately flies. 



"The play of the capercali is not loud, and, 

 should there be wind stirring in the trees at the 

 time, it cannot be heard at any considerable dis- 

 tance. Indeed, during the calmest and most fa- 

 vourable weather it is not audible at more than two 

 or three hundred paces. 



"'On hearing the call of the cock, the hens, whose 

 cry in some degree resembles the croak of the raven, 

 or rather, perhaps, the sounds gock, gock, gock, as- 

 semble from all parts of the surrounding forest. 

 The male bird now descends from the eminence on 

 which he was perched to the ground, where he and 

 his female friends join in company. The capercali 

 does not play indiscriminately over the forest, but 

 he has his certain stations (Tjador-lek, which may 

 perhaps be rendered his playing-grounds). These, 

 however, are often of some little extent. Here, 

 unless very much persecuted, the song of these 

 birds may be heard in the spring for years together. 

 The capercali does not during his play confine him- 

 self to any particular tree, as Mr. Nilsson asserts to 

 be the case, for, on the contrary, it is seldom he is 

 to be met with exactly on the same spot for two 

 days in succession." 



The female makes her nest upon the ground, and 

 lays from six to twelve eggs ; her brood keep with 

 her till the approach of winter, but the cocks sepa- 

 rate from the mother before the hens. The food of 

 this bird consists of the leaves of the Scotch fir, of 

 juniper-berries, cranberries, blueberries, and occa- 

 sionally in winter of the buds of the birch. The 

 young are sustained at first on insects, and especially 

 the larvse of ants. In the male the windpipe makes 

 a loose fold of two curves before it enters the chest, 

 gaining by this contrivance great increase of length. 

 The tarsi are hairy; the toes are rough beneath, 

 with horny points, enabling the bird to rest securely 

 on the smooth or slippery branches. The general 

 colour of the males on the upper part is chestnut 

 brown irregularly marked with blackish lines ; the 

 breast glossy greenish black, passing into black on 

 the under surface ; elongated feathers of the throat 

 black ; tail black. In the female the head, neck, 

 and back are marked with transverse bars of red 

 and black ; the under surface is pale orange-yellow 

 barred with black. Professor Nilsson assures us 

 that the capercaillie is often reared up in a domestic 

 state in Sweden, and is bold and disposed to attack 

 persons, like the turkey-cock ; and both this natu- 

 ralist and Mr. Lloyd affirm that these birds will 

 breed, with due care, in confinement ; in fact, they 

 give several instances by way of proof. 



In the early part of the spring the London market 

 is supplied with the capercaillie in abundance from 

 Norway, and, owing to the rapidity of steam navi- 

 gation, the birds are almost as fresh as if just shot, 

 keeping well for many days ; the flesh of the fe- 

 males is excellent. To those who wish to enter 

 into the exciting details of wood-grouse shooting, 

 we recommend Mr. Lloyd's work on 'Northern 

 Field-Sports.' 



We may here allude to the Tetrao medius, or Ra- 

 kelhan, which by many has been considered a hybrid 

 between the male capercaillie and the female black 

 grouse, but which is, we believe, undoubtedly a pure 

 species, but very rare. Locality, Norway and 

 Sweden. 



1757, 1758.— The Black Grouse, or Black Cock 

 (Tetrao Tetrix). Female, Grey Hen. Lyrurus Tetrix, 

 Swainson. Coq de Bois of the French ; Gallo di 



