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XIX. — Oil the Oiigin of Domestic Poultry. 
By James Wilson, Esq. F. R. S. E. &c„ 
(Read 20th March I8d0.) 
i. HE characters usually assigned by systematic naturalists 
to the genus of which the birds now under consideration 
form a part, are as follows : — 
Bill of moderate length, but strong ; bare at the base. 
Upper mandible arched, rounded, convex, bent at the tip. 
Head surmounted by a fleshy crest, which is sometimes 
only rudimentary, or replaced by a plume of feathers. 
Chin wattled. Cheeks bare. Toes four in number : 
the three anterior united at their bases by a membrane as 
far as the first joint ; the back toe elevated. Legs fur- 
nished with spurs. Tail composed of two inclined or 
nearly vertical planes, surmounted by more elongated cen- 
tral plumes, which are curved in the form of an arch. 
The genus above defined has been bisected by M. Tem- 
minck. The second section^ containing the beautiful Mac- 
cartney Cock {Gallus Maca7'tnii, Temm.), is distinguish- 
ed by having only the sides of the head bare, the crest 
composed of feathers, and the tarsi more elongated than in 
the other species. The first section, besides the bare cheeks. 
