FLOOR.] 
EASTERN ZOOLOGICAL GALLERY. 
13 
Polyplectrons, with their fine eye-like spots. Case 95. 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. 
Cases 94, 95. The Pheasants : the most conspicuous are Lady Am- 
herst'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 gorgeous in color, 
than either of the parents. Cases 96-99. 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. Cases 99, 100. Turkeys and Guinea-fowl ; the most 
conspicuous is the Ocellated Turkey of Honduras and Vulturine 
Pintado. Cases 101-103. The Partridges and Quails; some of the 
American species have been acclimatized in England; they subsist 
on seeds chiefly. Cases 104, 105. The Grouse: some inhabiting 
snowy regions, change their plumage in autumn to snow- white. The 
Sandgrouse, with their ochrey plumage, inhabit the deserts of the Old 
World. One species, the Syrrhaptes paradoxus, an inhabitant o 
Central Asia, has suddenly appeared in large numbers in Europe, 
and several small flocks have reached England, where they have been 
observed for three consecutive years. Case 106. 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 1 07-109. The Ostrich, Emeus, and Cassowaries, the largest of 
recent birds, incapable of flight, but noted for their powers of running. 
In Case 108 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 JEpyomis 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 
formerly contained in Tradescant's Museum at Lambeth, and also 
various models of head, skulls, and bones of the foot. An oil- 
painting of this remarkable bird is hung in the wall-case 108, 
which is said to have been made from a living bird, brought from the 
Mauritius. The selection of bones of the Dodo, shown in a small 
case on the right side of the skeleton, as well as the skeleton, 
were obtained from a turbary in the island mentioned. The two 
skeletons in the case on the right side of the Dodo represent a male 
and female of the Solitaire (Pezophaps solitarius) from Rodriguez, a 
small island situated about three hundred miles to the east of Mauri- 
tius. Like the Dodo, the Solitaire was a flightless pigeon, hut less 
bulky, and of a more slender build. Although the wings wer< 
