15S 
ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS. 
[UPPER 
Islands; the Nutmeg Pigeons, feeding on aromatic fruits ; the Didun- 
cidus, from the Navigator Islands, once exposed to the danger of 
extermination by the introduction of the cat into those islands ; the 
Bronze-winged Pigeons of Australia. Unlike the Gallinacese, the 
Pigeons when hatched are bare, and require to be fed by their parents. 
On the table cases opposite these, in glass cases, are the showy 
Fruit-eating Pigeons from New Guinea and the South Sea Islands. 
Cases 89, 90. The Curassows of South America, some of them 
with curious crests and knobs on their beak. 
Cases 91-93. The Peacocks and Argus Pheasants of Asia and its 
islands ; the rare Crossoptilon from Thibet, and the many-spurred 
Polyplectrons, with their fine eye-like spots. Cases 94-100. The 
Pheasants, Wild Fowls, and Turkeys: the Monaul, or Impeyan 
Pheasants, found on the high mountains of India, where they live on 
bulbous roots, which they dig up with their large beaks. The white- 
tailed Pheasant of Borneo, recently discovered by Sir E. Bulwer ; the 
Lady Amherst's Pheasant from Thibet, and the long-tailed Reeves's 
Pheasant from China. A separate Glass-Case contains a remarkable 
cross between the Golden and Lady Amherst's Pheasants, more gor- 
geous in color than either of the parents. The Wild Fowls, which 
are inhabitants of the Asiatic jungles and woods; the Fire-backed 
Pheasant, and the Horned Pheasants of North India, with their fine 
painted faces. Turkeys and Guinea-fowl ; the most conspicuous of 
which is the Ocellated Turkey of Honduras and Vulturine Pintado. 
Cases 101, 102. The Partridges and Quails; some of the American 
species have been acclimatized in England ; they subsist on seeds 
chiefly. Cases 85-87. The Grouse : some inhabiting snowy regions, 
change their plumage in winter to snow-white. The Sandgrouse, 
with their sandy-colored plumage, inhabit the deserts of the Old 
World. One species, the Syrrhaptes paradoxus, an inhabitant of 
Central Asia, has suddenly appeared in large numbers in Europe, 
and several small flocks have reached England, where they bave been 
observed for three consecutive years. Case 88. Sheathbills and 
Tinamous of the New World. The Megapodius group, including the 
Brush Turkey of Australia, make large mounds of decaying vegetable 
substances, in which the eggs are deposited, and are hatched by the 
heat of the fermenting mass. 
Cases 103-109. The Ostrich, Emeus, and Cassowaries, the largest of 
recent birds, incapable of flight, but noted for their powers of running. 
In Case 107 *are specimens of the Apteryx, wingless birds of New- 
Zealand, sleeping during the day, and feeding at night on worms and 
insects. Cast of the egg of the Mpyomis maximus, a fossil gigantic 
bird, from Madagascar. Opposite the upright case 108, are placed 
three glass cases containing skeletons and other remains of three 
birds which, incapable of flight, formerly were found in abundance 
in certain uninhabited islands, but which became extinct soon after 
their home had been discovered and invaded by man. The most 
celebrated is the Dodo from Mauritius, a gigantic pigeon : with its 
skeleton are exhibited a foot, belonging to a specimen which was 
