CROWNED GOURA* 



1*21 



This is the largest bird of this order known, 

 exceeding a Turkey in size : its beak is black, and 

 from its base arises a streak of that colour, which 

 passes through the eyes as far as the hind head : 

 the head is ornamented with an erect superb cir- 

 cular crest, the feathers of which it is composed 

 being upwards of four inches and a half in length, 

 of a loose texture, and of a fine pale bluish-ash 

 colour: the rest of the head, the neck, breast, 

 belly, sides, thighs, and under tail-coverts, grey- 

 blue : the rump and upper tail-coverts deep ash : 

 the back and scapulars the same, with a mixture 

 of purplish chesnut ; as are also the tips of the 

 lesser wing-coverts ; the greater ones, nearest the 

 body, ash-coloured within, and white on the out- 

 side, and tipped with purplish chesnut : the quills 

 deep dusky ash : tail the same, but paler at the 

 tip : the legs are dusky : the irides red. 



These birds have many of the manners of the 

 common Pigeons ; billing, inflating their breast, 

 and cooing; its note is, however, so loud at 

 times, as to resemble a kind of lowing ; and its 

 mournful notes alarmed the crew of Bougainville 

 greatly, on hearing them, for the first time, in the 

 wild and unfrequented spots of some of the islands 

 on which they landed ; they supposing the noise 

 to be uttered by some of the savages of those 

 parts. They are easily tamed, and in the East 

 Indies are kept in court-yards as poultry. In 

 a wild state they build and breed in the highest 

 trees. They inhabit the Moluccas and New 

 Guinea. 



