Habits of the Alectura Lathami. 
21 
Art. III. On the Habits of the Alectura Lathami. 
By John Gould, Esq. 
Sydney, 5th April, 1840. 
* * # * * 
Among other birds which this journey gave me an 
opportunity of observing, was the Bush Turkey, ( Alec - 
tura Lathami , Gray), respecting the history of which 
nothing has yet been made known; and, as its habits 
and mode of nidification are both singular and curious, 
I think it is a subject that may interest you,—although I 
cannot give so scientific a paper on the subject as I might 
do if I had access to my ornithological library. 
By Latham this bird was considered a vulture, while 
subsequent writers placed it among the rasorial birds ; 
and, still later, Mr. Swainson has returned it to its former 
station among the Raptores, considering it one of the 
aberrant forms of that order. Had this gentleman 
known anything of the internal structure of this anom¬ 
alous bird, or been in possession of any facts relative to 
its habits and economy, he would doubtless have allowed 
it to remain among the Rasores , to which order it de¬ 
cidedly belongs. 
The Alectura was supposed only to inhabit the thick 
brushes near the coast; but I find it enjoys a much more 
extensive range, being tolerably common in all the moun¬ 
tain districts of New South Wales, and also, as I have 
ascertained from my assistant, being found at Swan Iliver. 
The size of this bird is nearly equal to that of the female 
common turkey, and in carriage and gait resembles the 
curassows of South America. The general plumage is 
dark brown; the head and neck, which are almost de¬ 
nuded of feathers, of a rich red: pendent from the lower 
part of the neck is a large wattle of brilliant orano-e- 
yellow, which the bird has the power of inflating and 
