spots of deep brown on a yellowish gray ground; the inner web is white at its edge, but has the remainder filled up with round and oval spots, as on the other side of the shaft. The primary quills are of a fine yellowish gray, with oval dusky spots, and blue shafts. The upper part of the back and shoulders pale brown, thickly dotted with round spots of deep brownish black; the lower half of the back and tail-coverts pale buff, thinly spotted with black; chest and under surface dark chestnut, with fine zigzag bars of black. The top of the head is ornamented with a short crest of black velvety feathers, and the back of the neck with thin long hairlike feathers. The female is much less than the male, and of a deep ferruginous brown on the lower part of the neck and chest, which is also the colour of the primary quill-feathers. The secondaries are only slightly elongated, and exceed the primaries by nearly two inches; they are beautifully mottled with buff on a dark brown ground; back and under surface brown, with zigzag narrow bars; tail blackish brown; the top of the head and back of the neck furnished with slender hairlike feathers. A second genus is that termed Lophophorus, characterized by having the head surmounted with an erect plume, like that of a peacock, composed of feathers spreading out into a dilated extremity from a long slender filament. The cheeks are only partially clothed with feathers, the tail is square, the tarsi are armed with spurs, and the tip of the upper mandible is prolonged and dilated. The plumage is of intense metallic brilliancy. Cuvier considers this genus as leading to the peacocks. But one species is known: the IMPEYAN PHEASANT (Lophophorus Impeyanus, Cuv.) This richly coloured bird is about two feet in length, and of a stout and heavy make; it is a native of the Himalayan mountains, and is never found on the plains; hence it lives in a temperature even below that of moderate; its food consists in a great measure of bulbous roots, which it rakes up with its bill out of the ground, for which purpose, as well as for separating the layers of which the roots consist, this organ is expressly formed. The head and throat are of a rich metallic green; the feathers of the lower part of the neck and top of the back are lance-shaped, and of a deep metallic purple; the wings and rest of the body steel blue, with the exception of a white band across the lower part of the back; the tail is rufous brown. The female differs materially in plumage from her resplendent mate, being of a dull brown, dashed with gray and yellowish, and having a white throat. If the genus Lophophorus leads off to the pheasants, that of Tragopan has a marked relationship to the turkeys. The genus Tragopan (Cuvier) is characterized by having the head in the male nearly naked, and ornamented with two fleshy pendent horns arising one on each side behind the eyes, while below the throat hangs two loose carunculated wattles, united at their base, and, as in the turkey, capable of being dilated or contracted, and changing from scarlet to blue through varying and blended gradations. The tarsi are armed with spurs. Two species are known, both from the Himalayan mountains, and both closely resembling each other in size and plumage. Of these the HORNED PHEASANT (Tragopan Satyrus, Cuv.) has been described by various writers. The male is of a deep blood red on the breast and top of the back, sprinkled with white dots, each dot having a circle of black; the head is ornamented with a crest, of which the anterior part is black, the posterior scarlet; the throat, sides of the head, and back of the neck are black; the lower part of the back, the wings, and tail are rufous brown, with dashes and bars of a deeper hue, interspersed with dots of white. The female is brown, with dashes of yellowish white, and lines and zigzag bars of a dusky hue. The Tragopan Hastingsii is but lately known. Both are natives of the cold regions of the Himalayan mountains. Leaving the pheasants, the family Tetraonide comes next, including a numerous assemblage of Partridges, Quails, Francolins, Grouse, and many more. This family, while it possesses no striking characters, yet forms a very natural assemblage, inasmuch as its members are allied by palpable ties of affinity, though divided by minor points of difference into several subordinate groups. It contains a race of birds all fit for the table, but many of preeminent excellence. A few prominent examples only can be noticed here. The Tetraonida are all ground birds; that is, they pass their time and seek their food (with one or two partial exceptions) on the earth, frequenting heaths, cornfields, and meadows. Hence do we find the hind toe short and feeble in all, and in some absolutely wanting. They run with facility, but in general make short flights, and with considerable exertion of wing. The beak and organs of digestion are fitted for grain, berries, and the shoots of plants. The genus Tetrao, of which we have several British examples, claims our first notice; it is that of the Grouse, and is thus characterized: bill short and strong, nostrils placed at the base and obscured by small closely set feathers; above the eye rises a naked skin, papillose and fringed, and generally of a deep scarlet; wings short; tail of sixteen feathers; toes three before and one behind, all pectinated or furnished along their edges with rough prominences; tarsi feathered. The Grouse are gregarious in their habits, and are chiefly confined to the higher latitudes of the globe, and to the elevated mountains of central Europe. They feed upon alpine shrubs, berries, and the shoots of heath and pine. Their flesh is highly flavoured, and in great esteem. Of this genus the noblest species is the WOOD Grouse, or Capercaillie, (Tetrao urogallus,) formerly common in the pine forests of Scotland and Ireland, but now no longer to be met with, having been ruthlessly extirpated. It abounds, however, in the forests of Russia, Norway, Sweden, and other parts of the north, as well as among the dense pine woods of the Alps. The male is equal in size to a turkey, weighing from eight to twelve pounds, or even more. The female is much smaller. During the spring, from February to the end of March, the silence of the black and gloomy forest is broken by the voice of the Woodgrouse calling to his mates, from some stump, or branch, as soon as morning dawns, and before evening closes. With tail spread out, and quills lowered to the feet, the neck protruded, and the feathers of the head ruffled, he utters a cry not unlike the whetting of a scythe, but so loud as to be heard at a great distance, all the time throwing himself into strange attitudes, strutting and wheeling about with great stateliness. To the sin gular construction of the trachea or windpipe this loud and harsh-toned note is doubtless owing: this organ makes a loose fold of two curves before it enters the chest, so as by this contrivance to gain a great increase of length, and is besides governed by a certain apparatus of muscles. |