ON DOMESTIC POULTRY. 
403 
has also a portion of the anterior part of the neck bare of 
feathers. 
In addition to the more precise characters above men- 
tioned, it has been observed that a certain family resem- 
blance, which cannot be easily expressed in words, not only 
unites these birds among themselves, but serves to distin- 
guish them from the nearly allied family of the pheasants. 
The two genera which contain the cocks and pheasants are, 
however, so closely allied, as to render it in some instances 
a matter of no little difficulty to draw between them a de- 
cided line of demarcation. By the great Linnaeus they 
were indeed included under a single genus, that of Phasia- 
nus, although much earlier authors, such as Gesner, Al- 
drovandus, Frisch, had shewn the propriety of forming 
that division called Gallus, since re-established as a sepa- 
rate genus by Brisson, Illiger, and others of recent date. 
The aspect of the genuine Galli, if not fierce, is at least 
very bold and commanding. They carry their heads high, 
their necks upright, their bodies raised. Their tails are 
compressed and vertical, their cheeks bare, their throats 
wattled, and their heads usually surmounted by a fleshy 
crest or comh. Pheasants, on the other hand, besides being 
of feebler constitution, and consequently more difficult to 
rear, possess a more elongated form of body, which is usu- 
ally maintained in a horizontal position ; their tails are long 
and slender, and project nearly on the same level with the 
dorsal line, and their cheeks are covered by a tissue of very 
short feathers, of the consistence of velvet. 
Of the many benefits which Providence has enabled man 
to draw from within the great circle of the feathered race, 
there is none which surpasses in extent and utility the do- 
mestication of those most famiharly known of all birds, 
called, par excellence^ the Cock and Hen. So ancient has 
been the subservience of this species to the human race, 
c c 2 
