4*86 The Hijlory of ANIMALS. 
the head is comprefied and oblong; the eyes are fmall, but lively and piercing in their 
afped:: the creft or comb on the crown is oblong, tall, thin, eredt, and dentated at 
the edge : the back is of a pale brownilh-yellow ; the neck is of a fomewhat paler 
colour, but of the fame kind : the wings are variegated with the fame tawny colour 
and black, and fo is the tail : the legs are brown, and are armed behind with long, 
drong, bony fpurs, turning up, and very iharp-pointed. 
; This form and colouring of the cock in his wild date ; with us the variega¬ 
tions in colour are endlefs, and thofe in the form and difpoAtion of the feathers, and 
in the drudure of the comb are as various. Thefe have, by the lefs fcientific authors, 
been underdood as fpeciAc didindions j and hence in the common way, from this Angle 
fpecies, have arifen thofe imaginary ones, diftinguifhed by the names of the Feather-; 
topped fowl, the Rumplefs fowl, the Friefland hen $ and from hence alone thofe of the 
Bantam fowl, and the like. Thefe are barely varieties; the common dunghil cock is 
the Angle lpecies, and thefe are produced and farther varied by accidents and mixed 
breeds, as our variety of auricula’s from the feeds of the Ample and original kind. 
PHASIANUS. 
T H E area or fpace about the 
eyes in the PhaAanus is naked ; it has no wattles. 
Phafianus pe&ore nigro purpurafcente . 
The blackifh purple-breafted Phajianus . 
iMieafant 
The pheafant differs more in bulk and weight, according to the plenty or fcarcity of 
food which it has met with, than almod any bird j when in good condition, it is lit¬ 
tle lefs than a common unfatted fowl: the head is fmall j the ears are patulous, and 
very obviouAy diftinguifhed : the eyes are remarkably bright and piercing; their iris is 
of a bright and elegant yellow, and they are furrounded with a naked fpace of a Ane 
fcarlet colour, which gives a great beauty to the bird : the beak is not very long, but 
robuft, and refembles that of the common fowl 5 there are two flefhy tubercles toward 
it’s bale, under which the noftrils are hid : the Ades of the head are blackifh > the 
top of it, and part of the neck in the male, are of a Ane gloffy and changeable green $ 
but this is paler on the head than on the neck : the feathers near the ears are long and 
elevated, and form what the old naturalifts call the ears of the pheafant j a purple 
colour is feen on the throat, and at the Ades of the neck ; but all thefe tinges, though 
very bright, are changeable, and hardly inherent in the feathers. 
The lower part of the neck, the fhoulders, the middle of the back, and the breaft 
are covered with elegant feathers of a blackifh or purplifh tinge, as feen in various 
lights: the tail is long, and compofed of few feathers; the wings are but fhort, in 
proportion to the bulk of the body, but they are beautifully variegated 5 the legs are 
robuft, and of a pale colour. 
This valuable bird would be very common in our woods, if it were not fo univer-* 
fally the delight of the fportfman and of the table. All the authors who have written 
on birds have defcribed it, and all under the fame general name PhaAanus. 
Phaftanm pe&ore coccineo . 
*The fcarlet-breafled Phajianus . 
3Ct)c reti 
This is nearly of the Aze of the common pheafant: the head is larger, in propor¬ 
tion to the body ; the eyes are very bright, and their iris is of a Ane ftrong orange co¬ 
lour ; they are furrounded by a naked fkin, not fcarlet, as in the former fpecies, but 
of a deep Ar colour : the top of the head is of a deep chefnut j the neck has a change¬ 
able glow of a deep blue, a de^p green, and a very ftrong blackifh-purple : the back 
is of a Ane, bright, ferrugineous tinge, with a glow of purple 5 the feathers are all 
very 
