section Peristeropodes (p. 186) of the Sub-Order GALLI. The bill is short,
stout, and arched, though rather slender in _Megapodius_; the feet are
exceptionally strong, and enormous for the size of the birds, _Lipoa_
having the smallest; while the metatarsi are usually scutellated, but are
reticulated anteriorly in _Megacephalon_, which has comparatively short and
blunt claws. The abbreviated wings have ten primaries and some six
secondaries. The tail is long and rounded in _Talegallus_ and _Lipoa_, with
upper coverts extending to the tip in the latter; it is short but still
rounded in _Megapodius_; long and obcordate when expanded in _Catheturus_,
_Aepypodius_, and _Megacephalon_. The rectrices number twelve in
_Megapodius_, sixteen in _Lipoa_, {191}_Talegallus_, and _Aepypodius_,
eighteen in _Megacephalon_ and _Catheturus_. _Aepypodius_ possesses an
erect fleshy frontal crest and a pendent caruncle at the base of the
fore-neck, or even a pair of lateral outgrowths near the nape; _Catheturus_
has a vascular neck-wattle: and _Megacephalon_ a rounded bony casque with a
tubercle behind each nostril. The fleshy growths are yellow or reddish, the
horny black. In _Aepypodius_, _Catheturus_, and _Megacephalon_ the naked
head is clothed with hair-like feathers or papillae; _Lipoa_ and some
species of _Megapodius_ have a short dense crest; others have the head
almost entirely feathered, others again nearly bare except the occipital
and nuchal region, as in _Talegallus_. The naked skin may be red, yellow,
orange, purplish, grey, or pale blue; the bill and feet are black, brown,
olive, yellow, red, orange, horn- or parti-coloured. The furcula is
Y-shaped, the syrinx tracheo-bronchial, the tongue sagittate, the gizzard
muscular, and the aftershaft small. The size varies from that of a Turkey
to that of a large Pigeon, the sexes being invariably similar.
Megapodes are shy terrestrial birds found in hill-valleys, among thickets
near rivers or the sea, or on gravelly and sandy beaches. Upon the ground
their gait is not ungraceful, while they run well, and only take to the
wing when hard pressed; if disturbed they usually seek the lowest branches
of the neighbouring trees, hopping gradually to the higher limbs; the
flight is heavy, but can carry them from island to island. Always difficult
of observation they are rarely seen in company, yet the larger breeding
mounds are no doubt used by more pairs than one. Hoarse croaks or clucks
are uttered in the day-time, mewing notes or noisy cackles at night; the
food consists of fallen fruit, seeds, berries, worms, snails, insects, and
even crabs. The brownish-red, salmon-coloured or whitish eggs, at least as
large as those of the domestic duck, are deposited either in mounds
constructed of soil and vegetable matter, or in holes made in sandy or
shingly ground; the decaying vegetation or the sun's heat producing the
effect of an artificial incubator, and making parental aid needless. The
young extricate themselves readily from the superincumbent soil, being
hatched in a feathered condition, and flying almost immediately. The flesh
is dark and usually unpalatable.
Though mainly confined to the Australian Region, where it extends eastwards
to Ninafou and Samoa, the Family reaches westward to the Nicobars, and
northward to the Philippines and {192}Ladrones, replacing the Pheasants
within these limits–save for the Philippines–just as the Cracidae do in
Neotropical countries. No species is yet recorded from Sumatra or Java, and
confirmation is needed in the case of the main island of Borneo.
_Megacephalon maleo_ of North Celebes and the Sanghir Islands is glossy
blackish-brown, with salmon-pink breast and belly, a vaulted tail, a black
casque of cellular tissue, and dusky bill and feet. The Maleo, as it is
called, inhabits hilly country, but resorts in hundreds to sloping gravelly
beaches to breed, holes being scratched or dug just above high-water mark,
some four or five feet in diameter. In these from two to eight pale
brownish-red eggs are laid, about six inches apart–at intervals, it is
said, of a fortnight or so–several females occasionally using one cavity.
_Aepypodius bruijni_ of Waigiou is brownish-black, with chestnut rump and
breast, dusky bill and feet; a fleshy papillose crest adorns the head, and
three wattles–one median and two lateral–occur on the neck, all probably
red in life. _Ae. arfakianus_ of New Guinea is black above and brownish
below, with no lateral wattles.
_Catheturus lathami_, the "Brush Turkey" of Eastern Australia, is
blackish-brown with greyish under surface, shewing conspicuous light
margins to the feathers. It has a bright yellow neck-wattle, reddish head
and neck, black bill and brown feet. This species forms mounds of earth and
decayed leaves, sometimes as much as six feet high and fourteen feet in
diameter at the base, and covers the coarse outer layers with fresh leaves
and sticks. The central portion is hollowed out like a cup, successive
layers of eggs being deposited from the circumference inwards in concentric
circles, and the earth gradually filled in above them. Several females
sometimes utilize the same mound, each being said to lay an egg every
second day. These eggs, placed with the small end downwards, number from
twenty to nearly forty, and are of a long pointed oval shape and of a white
colour with minute granulations. The site is usually a level clearing among
scrub, whither the materials are conveyed by being repeatedly thrown
backwards by the feet, while the cock possibly assists in building.[149]
_Talegallus cuvieri_, of Western New Guinea, Salwatti, Mysol and Gilolo, is
black with whitish throat; the naked parts are red-brown, the bill and feet
{193}reddish-orange and yellow respectively. _T. fuscirostris_, of South
and East New Guinea, with the Aru Islands, differs in its grey-black bare
areas and brown bill; _T. jobiensis_, of Jobi Island and East New Guinea,
has the bill, feet, and naked skin red. The habits resemble those of
_Catheturus_: the mounds, which reach an internal temperature of 93° F.,
are sometimes eleven feet high; the eggs are reddish with a chalky
incrustation.
[Illustration: FIG. 44.–"Brush Turkey." _Catheturus lathami._ × ⅙.]
_Lipoa ocellata_, the Native Pheasant or Mallee Hen of South and West
Australia, has grey and brown upper parts, with black, buff, and white
markings, which form eyes on the wings and back. The breast is grey with a
median black and white line, the remaining lower parts being whitish with a
rufous tinge. The naked parts are pale blue, the bill and feet brown. This
bird frequents both open parts of the "brushes" and dense thickets, while
in manners it differs but little from the members of the last two genera.
The mounds–usually in close proximity–are, however, smaller as a rule, and
are stated to be used by single hens, a fact no doubt true in many cases.
The six to eight eggs, which are pinkish-white, but become red-brown in a
few days, are very fragile, as in other Megapodes. The natives say that an
egg is {194}deposited daily, the discrepancy between _Lipoa_ and
_Megacephalon_ being in this respect very remarkable, but conflicting
assertions are only what may be expected where several females lay
together, and further investigation should easily decide the question.
The genus _Megapodius_ contains some fifteen species, about the size of a
small fowl, in which the coloration varies from olive or chestnut-brown to
blackish or grey above, and from red-brown to pale or dark-grey below, the
bill being reddish, greenish, or yellowish, and the feet black, red,
orange, yellow, or horn-coloured. _M. pritchardi_, of Ninafou, alone has
white bases to the primaries, and _M. wallacii_, of the Moluccas, exhibits
bright chestnut bands on the upper surface. _M. duperreyi_ (_tumulus_),
which ranges from the Kangeang Islands and Lombok to New Guinea and
North-East Australia, fashions mounds, occasionally ten feet high, in dense
scrub, laying pale coffee-coloured eggs in long burrows bored laterally,
and not in symmetrical circles, as does _Catheturus_. _M. layardi_, of the
New Hebrides, frequents damp wooded ravines, and is said to deposit its
red-brown eggs among leaves in hollows. _M. cumingi_, found from the
islands north of Borneo and Paláwan to the Philippines and Celebes, builds
mounds of sand, leaves, and so forth, near the sea, the chalky eggs having
a salmon hue. _M. eremita_, extending from the Solomon Islands almost to
New Guinea, buries its eggs a couple of feet deep in open sandy spots, kept
clear and fenced into allotments by the natives in Savo and Guadalcanar;
while _M. nicobariensis_, of the Nicobars, appears to flock more than other
Megapodes, and to lay its eggs at long intervals. _M. tenimberensis_, of
the Tenimber Islands, _M. sanghirensis_ of the Sanghir group, _M.
bernsteini_ of the Sula Islands, _M. forsteni_ and _M. freycineti_, ranging
from the Moluccas to Western or even Northern New Guinea, _M.
macgillivrayi_ of the Louisiade and D'Entrecasteaux Archipelagos and
Eastern New Guinea, _M. geelvinkianus_, of the west of the latter with its
islands, and _M. laperousii_, of the Pelew and Ladrone groups, are like
their congeners in habits and appearance. _Chosornis praeteritus_ is an
extinct form from Queensland.
Fam. V. CRACIDAE.–These birds are almost identical in structure with the
_Megapodiidae_, though sharply contrasted in their arboreal habits and
their style of breeding. They may be divided into the Sub-families (1)
_Cracinae_ or Curassows, (2) _Penelopinae_ or Guans, and (3)
_Oreophasinae_. Of the first of these, where the maxilla is higher than it
is broad, the genus _Crax_ has a soft {195}cere, and nostrils in the middle
of the bill, with the addition in many cases of frontal excrescences and
wattles; _Nothocrax_, _Pauxis_ and _Mitua_ have the beak horny and the
nostrils basal, _Pauxis_, moreover, being distinguished by a large knob on
the forehead, and _Mitua_ by its short, highly-compressed bill with swollen
culmen. The remaining Sub-families have the maxilla depressed and broader
than it is high; _Penelope_, _Penelopina_ and _Pipile_ exhibit bare throats
with a median wattle, _Ortalis_ a mere band of bristly-shafted feathers
down the middle, and _Aburria_ a feathered throat and vermiform wattle,
while _Chamaepetes_ shews neither wattle nor bare skin, and _Oreophasis_,
the sole tenant of the _Oreophasinae_, a naked crown, surmounted by a
cylindrical helmet. The males of _Crax_, _Pauxis_, and _Mitua_, and both
sexes of _Penelope jacucaca_, have the trachea looped, and sometimes
extended to the posterior end of the keel of the sternum; other forms lack
the convolutions, but in several the state is unknown.
The range covers Central and South America, excluding the Greater Antilles,
Chili and Patagonia, but one species (_Ortalis vetula_) even reaches as far
north as Texas.
These handsome birds, from three feet to a foot and a half in length,
frequent forests near the coast or wooded ravines on rivers, attaining at
times an elevation of several thousand feet. They are often tame and show
great curiosity, _Ortalis_ being commonly gregarious and pugnacious; some
forms, moreover, rarely seek the ground and are only to be seen perched
among the branches, but others haunt the undergrowth in the mid-day heat,
and _Nothocrax_ is asserted to take refuge occasionally in hollow trees.
The food consists of leaves and fruit, ordinarily procured in the morning
or evening, while various species scratch among the débris like Pheasants.
The flight is generally heavy and rapid, _Chamaepetes_ in particular
descending with a noisy rush and stiffened wings; the alarm-note is loud
and harsh, and in _Penelope_ cackling, but the more usual triple cry is
clear and ringing, while _Ortalis_ utters a softer call, and vociferates in
rattling chorus. The carelessly-constructed nest of twigs, grass, moss, and
leaves is of considerable size, and is placed on the horizontal branch of a
tree, in a bush, or on a stump, the two to five eggs–smaller than those of
a hen–being white, with a hard granulated shell. The young soon climb and
hop about the boughs like the adults, of which the flesh is considered a
delicacy. Several species are {196}readily domesticated, but rarely breed
in confinement. Hybrids with domestic fowls have been recorded. Except
where mentioned below the sexes are alike.
[Illustration: FIG. 45.–Crested Curassow. _Crax alector._ × ⅐.]
Sub-fam. 1. _Cracinae._–_Crax alector_ is black with a purplish gloss, the
belly being white, the naked lores and orbits black, the cere and base of
the bill yellow, the tip bluish, and the feet horn-coloured. Throughout the
whole genus, which is Central and South American, the female has a curly
crest barred with white. The remaining nine species differ in being
greenish-black, and–except _C. fasciolata_–have a frontal knob, with or
without a basal wattle on each side of the mandible, the colour of these
parts varying from scarlet or yellow to pale blue or purplish-black. The
tail may be tipped with white; the females often exhibit white barring
above, and have the plumage relieved by buff and chestnut. _Nothocrax
urumutum_, ranging from British Guiana to the Upper Amazons, is chiefly
chestnut above vermiculated with black, and cinnamon below; the wings and
tail being blackish with buff markings, the throat chestnut, the long crest
black, the naked lores and orbits yellow and purplish, the bill scarlet,
the feet flesh-coloured. The female has the lower parts mottled with dusky.
_Mitua mitu_ of British Guiana, Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia is blue-black,
with chestnut {197}belly, white-tipped tail, red bill and feet; the crest
being well-developed. _M. tomentosa_, of the first two countries only, has
a shorter crest and chestnut-tipped tail, whereas _M. salvini_ of Ecuador
has a white belly. _Pauxis galeata_, the Cashew-bird, inhabiting Venezuela,
Colombia, and Peru, is glossy greenish-black with white abdomen and tip to
the tail; the frontal knob, supposed to resemble a Cashew nut, being dull
blue. The female shows a large admixture of chestnut and buff.
Sub-fam. 2. _Penelopinae._–The fifteen species of _Penelope_ are brown or
olive-green, more or less varied with chestnut and rufous, or washed with
purple or bronze; the feathers, moreover, have often whitish margins, the
head in _P. pileata_, and the outer primaries in _P. albipennis_ becoming
almost white. The wattled throat is generally feathered in _P._
(_Stegnolaema_) _montagnii_, but naked elsewhere, the colour being given as
carmine in _P. cristata_, where the feet are red. The orbits are also bare,
the crest is moderate, and the metatarsus in some cases is partly
feathered. Two members of the genus inhabit Central America. _P. obscura_,
the Pavo del Monte, alone reaches Northern Argentina, where _Crax
fasciolata_, _Pipile cumanensis_, and _Ortalis canicollis_, the Charata,
also represent the Family. _Penelopina nigra_, of the Guatemalan highlands,
is greenish-black, barred and mottled with brown and buff in the female;
the naked orbits are purplish, the bare throat, large wattle, bill and feet
red. _Ortalis_ contains about seventeen forms, some hardly worthy of
specific rank, of which five occur from South to Central America and
one–_O. vetula_, the Chiacalaca–extends to Texas. _O. ruficauda_ is found
in Tobago and the Grenadines. The coloration is brown or olive, with little
or no metallic gloss, but relieved by chestnut, rufous and grey; the breast
and belly being occasionally white or buff, the naked orbits and sides of
the throat apparently reddish, and the feet pinkish, grey, or blue. _Pipile
cumanensis_, of South America northwards from Bolivia and Brazil, with
Trinidad, is greenish-black; a white crest of pointed feathers reaches the
sides of the neck, some white shews on the wings and chest; the cere, naked
orbits, lores, throat and wattle are blue, the feet red. _P. jacutinga_ of
South-East Brazil and Paraguay has a purplish gloss above, and a red
wattle; _P. cujubi_ of the Lower Amazons a brown crest margined with white.
_Aburria carunculata_ of Colombia and Ecuador is greenish-black, with a
scantily-feathered throat and long thin wattle. _Chamaepetes {198}goudoti_,
of the same countries and Peru, is bronzy-brown with greyish head and
rufous under parts; the Costa Rican and Veraguan _C. unicolor_ being nearly
uniform greenish-black. In both these genera the orbits are more or less
naked.
Sub-fam. 3. _Oreophasinae._–_Oreophasis derbianus_, the splendid Faisan of
the Volcan de Fuego in Guatemala, is greenish-black with dense velvety
plumage extending from the forehead to the nostrils; the white lower parts
become brownish at the sides and vent, and shew dark streaks; a white band
crosses the tail; and a red cellular casque covered with hair-like feathers
surmounts the head. The bill is pale yellow, the feet are vermilion.
Fam. VI. PHASIANIDAE.–Of really distinct Sub-families this group may be
said to possess three, (1) the _Numidinae_, or Guinea-fowls, (2) the
_Meleagrinae_, or Turkeys, and (3) the _Phasianinae_, or Pheasants,
Partridges, and Grouse; it is, however, customary to class the Grouse apart
as _Tetraoninae_, though a difficulty at once arises in drawing the line of
demarcation. For example, Huxley[150] considered _Caccabis_, _Francolinus_
and _Coturnix_ Galline, _i.e._ Phasianine; Dr. Gadow[151] makes them
Tetraonine; while Mr. Ogilvie Grant[152] agrees with the former, but does
not make these genera the link between the sections. Mr. Grant's view may
be conveniently followed, but the division is in any case arbitrary. As a
matter of further convenience a Partridge group (_Perdicinae_) may be
formed, and the "American Partridges" may stand apart as _Odontophorinae_.
Passing mention should be made of the economical importance of this Family
as a factor in our food-supply, whether in the wild state as game, or in
the domesticated as poultry; for almost inconceivable numbers of birds are
bred, exported, or used for eating in their native countries, while the
value of domestic fowls' eggs can best be estimated by imagining the
consequence of a failure in the production. Man's custom herein is no doubt
guided by the ease with which most of the species are secured or reared,
and by the great development of the pectoral muscles or "flesh of the
breast."
The body is decidedly heavy, the head usually rather small, and the neck
fairly long. The bill is comparatively short and stout–especially in
_Ithagenes_, _Dendrortyx_, and elsewhere–but may be more elongated, as in
_Lophophorus_ and _Euplocamus_; the maxilla {199}being curved, and
overhanging the mandible, which exhibits two serrations on each side in the
Odontophorinae. The metatarsus is strong and relatively short in Grouse and
many Partridges, but in Pheasants and similar forms it is much longer; the
feathering descends to the toes in the Tetraoninae, except _Bonasa_ and
_Tetrastes_, the digits themselves being clothed in _Lagopus_, naked and
pectinate at the sides in the remaining genera. No other members of the
Family shew pectinations or have the metatarsus feathered, save _Lerwa_,
where it is half covered. The hallux, invariably elevated, has only a
rudimentary claw in _Rollulus_, _Melanoperdix_, and _Caloperdix_;
_Arboricola_, _Dactylortyx_, and _Cyrtonyx_, on the contrary, have
particularly long and somewhat straight claws. Spurs are of frequent
occurrence on the feet of the males, though rare in the females, some
species possessing as many as three pairs; they are never found in the
Tetraoninae or Odontophorinae, and are represented by mere knobs in
_Acryllium_ (Numidinae). The wings are short and rounded, with ten
primaries and from twelve to nineteen secondaries, both decreasing in
length as they near the middle of the wing, which has thus a bilobed
appearance when expanded. The primaries usually increase in length before
decreasing, but in some cases the exterior quill is the longest, while in
_Falcipennis_ two or three of the outer feathers are sickle-shaped, and in
_Argus_ the secondaries are enormously developed. The tail is extremely
variable, being long and rounded in _Lophophorus_; long and sharp-pointed
in _Phasianus_ and _Centrocercus_; moderate, broad, and rounded in
_Lagopus_, _Odontophorus_, and so forth; similar but more truncated in
_Meleagris_; short in most Partridges; and exceptionally abbreviated in
many Quails. The coverts far exceed the tail in the Peacock, forming its
splendid train, while they are much elongated in _Chrysolophus_, and to
some extent in _Coturnix_, _Excalphatoria_, and _Ceriornis_ (_Tragopan_).
In _Pedioecetes_ the two middle rectrices surpass the rest and terminate
abruptly; in _Lyrurus_ the exterior feathers fork outwards; in
_Crossoptilon_ and _Gennaeus_ the median plumes curve over the others; and
in _Lobiophasis_ not only is this the case, but the rhachis extends beyond
the webs, which are much reduced on the outer side of the lateral quills;
in _Argusianus_ and _Rheinardtius_ the middle pair is extraordinarily
lengthened. The whole tail is compressed or "vaulted" to a greater or less
degree in _Gallus_, _Chrysolophus_, _Lophura_, _Acomus_, _Gennaeus_
{200}and _Crossoptilon_. _Excalphatoria_ is remarkable for possessing only
eight rectrices; ten are found in _Microperdix_, and occasionally in
_Synoecus_ and _Coturnix_; but the usual number is from twelve to
twenty-four, while _Lobiophasis_ has thirty-two in the male and
twenty-eight in the female. The nostrils are concealed by the feathering in
the Tetraoninae alone, the aftershaft is large except in _Pavo_, the
furcula is Y-shaped, the tongue sagittate, the syrinx tracheo-bronchial.
The globular crop and muscular gizzard are decidedly characteristic, yet
_Argusianus_ has been said to lack the former, and _Centrocercus_ the
latter. In the male of _Tetrao urogallus_ and both sexes of _Guttera_ the
trachea has a loop, which in the latter case passes through a cavity in the
head of the furcula.
The plumage is of the most varied description, the winter coat of _Lagopus_
being commonly white, the males of _Lyrurus_, _Tetrao_, and _Melanoperdix_
nearly black, while the prevailing colours in _Chrysolophus pictus_ are
orange and red, in _Gennaeus nycthemerus_ black and white, in _Rollulus_
dull green and maroon, in _Gallus_ orange, red, purple, green, black, and
white, in _Phasianus_ metallic green, orange, and brown. In the _Numidinae_
white or bluish spots mark the blackish ground-colour; in the American
Grouse black, brown, yellowish-buff and white occur in varying proportions;
while the Partridges and Quails exhibit, as a rule, still more sober tints
of brown, relieved by dull red or buff. Peacocks, again, show a combination
of beautiful metallic blues and greens with copper and buff, rarely found
elsewhere in the Family; nor must _Lophophorus_, _Lophura_, _Lobiophasis_,
and _Ceriornis_ be left out of consideration. The ocelli or "eyes" on the
Peacock's train hardly require mention; _Polyplectron_ has similar
adornments on both the tail and the upper parts in the male, on the tail
alone in the female; _Argusianus_ on the secondaries and rectrices in the
male, _Meleagris ocellata_ on the latter in both sexes. The feathers of the
crown are curled in _Crossoptilon_, _Pavo_, and _Lophophorus sclateri_, and
fine crests are by no means uncommon; the component plumes being more or
less racquet-shaped in _Lophura_ and _Lophortyx_, and in _Pavo cristatus_
consisting of webs at the end of bare shafts. The crests of _Chrysolophus_
and _Gennaeus_ are recumbent, those of _Rollulus_ and _Rheinardtius_
upright; while, among others, the full head-tufts of _Ithagenes_ and most
species of _Lophophorus_, with the comparatively short ornaments of
_Haematortyx_, _Ceriornis_, and _Callipepla_ are worth notice.
_Crossoptilon_, {201}_Pucrasia_, and _Phasianus_ have elongated ear-coverts
or feathers behind the ear, the white plumes of the first-named being
especially remarkable and common to both sexes; an erectile cape surmounts
the nape in _Chrysolophus_; _Meleagris_ has a peculiar patch of long
bristles on the breast, _Bonasa_ a ruff on the sides of the neck; _Gallus_
and _Acryllium_ have hackles or lanceolate feathers in various parts,
moulted–in the former at least–during the summer. All these decorations are
absent or less pronounced in the females, which are, as a rule, dull in
colour.
The head is entirely naked in _Meleagris_, and is covered with caruncles,
an erectile process hanging from the forehead; a pair of long fleshy horns
above the eyes distinguish _Ceriornis_, which has in addition a large
wattle on the throat; a comb of similar substance is accompanied by a
single median or two pairs of lateral wattles in _Gallus_; while the sides
of the face, the orbits, or the fore-neck, are bare in many genera. The
male of _Lobiophasis_ has the head nearly naked, with no less than three
pairs of wattles; though the female has but one rudimentary pair of the
latter, and only the cheeks unfeathered. In all these cases the skin and
outgrowths are red or blue. The head and neck are bare in the Numidinae,
except for a crest in _Guttera_, a crescentic nuchal band of feathers in
_Acryllium_, and a line of plumage down the crown in _Phasidus_; wattles
occur at the angles of the gape in _Guttera_ and _Numida_, both these and
the naked skin being blue and red throughout the Sub-family, save in
_Phasidus_, where the latter is yellow, and in _Agelastes_, where it is red
and white. The bony casque of _Numida_ is red or horn-coloured. The
Tetraoninae have merely a little red or yellow skin over the eye. In
females all the fleshy outgrowths are much smaller or absent, throughout
the Family.
Air-sacs of orange skin lie below the side-feathers of the neck in the
males of _Centrocercus_, _Dendragapus_, and _Tympanuchus_, and become
visible when inflated; they are supposed to produce the booming
ventriloquistic sound, uttered in the breeding season. _Bonasa_ has a naked
space in a similar position, but its drumming is stated to be caused by the
wings. _Pedioecetes_ can hardly be said to have air-sacs, yet it also
drums, while the exact nature of the corresponding sounds made by _Tetrao
urogallus_ and _Lyrurus tetrix_ is uncertain. The "gobble" of the domestic
Turkey is a parallel instance, in so far as it is uttered during
excitement.
The members of this Family, which range in size from the {202}splendid
Capercaillie (_T. urogallus_) to the small Quail-like _Excalphatoria
sinensis_, are all weighty birds for their bulk, rising heavily and
noisily, and travelling with low and steady, though often laboured, flight;
in many cases the pace is extremely rapid, but comparatively short
distances are covered before alighting. On the whole, they are certainly
partial to dry localities, which may, however, be prairies and heaths, as
in many Grouse, wooded or open country generally, as in Pheasants, or stony
hill-sides, as in _Tetraogallus_, _Ammoperdix_, and some species of
_Lagopus_ and _Caccabis_; yet a few seem to prefer the vicinity of marshes,
and others are constantly met with at considerable elevations. The great
facility with which game-birds run, their frequent custom of lying until
they are almost trodden upon, and that of combining into coveys or packs
consisting of two or more broods, are too well-known to need lengthy
description here. The strutting and parading of the cocks of the larger
species is fully noticed below, while the habit common to most forms of
dusting themselves, instead of washing, is also noticeable. Many are almost
entirely terrestrial, a love for trees being in fact exceptional;
nevertheless, instances might easily be adduced of roosting on branches or
taking refuge there when disturbed, and though _Lagopus_, _Francolinus_,
and _Perdix_ are notoriously averse to perching, the writer himself has
seen five or six Red Grouse sitting on low trees, within half an hour.
_Tetrao_, _Lyrurus_, _Phasianus_, _Pavo_, and _Meleagris_ well exemplify
the polygamous habits not unfrequent in the Family, the males in such cases
usually deserting their mates during incubation; _Coturnix_ and _Ortyx_,
moreover, are stated to be not invariably monogamous. The nest is nearly
always on or close to the ground, and is formed of a few twigs, grass,
moss, feathers, and leaves; the hole, usually scraped as a commencement,
being sometimes barely lined. _Polyplectron_, as a rule, deposits two eggs,
but the number in most species is much greater, from sixteen to twenty
being not uncommonly found, or even more where two hens lay together–a
fairly ordinary practice in the group. The colour in Grouse is yellowish or
reddish, either with rufous spots or close blotches of black, purple, or
orange-brown; in the Pheasant and Partridge it is uniform olive, and in the
Odontophorinae pure white, with or without brown or red markings. Further
information is given {203}below. Few Galline birds, besides the American
Partridges, breed twice in a season. The male has been observed to incubate
in _Ortyx_, and in this genus and _Odontophorus_ domed nests are on record,
while many species lay their eggs in depressions under over-arching tufts
of heather or grass. Incubation lasts from eighteen to twenty-eight days,
the young running almost from the shell. The note is shrill in
Guinea-fowls, Partridges, and Quails, somewhat whistling in _Polyplectron_
and _Tetrastes_, and generally consists of two or more syllables; but in
view of subsequent details, it is sufficient to particularize the
"cok-cok-cok" of the Grouse, the crow of the Pheasant and the Cock, the
cluck and cackle of the Hen, the scream of the Peacock, and the gobble of
the Turkey. The food is chiefly vegetable, and includes shoots, buds,
leaves, grass, bulbs, seeds, berries and other fruits, with a certain
amount of grit; but worms, molluscs, ants and their cocoons, insects and
their larvae, swell the list. Juniper twigs or berries are supposed to give
a flavour to the Hazel Grouse, pine tips to the Capercaillie, whereas the
"Sage-brush" of America (_Artemisia tridentata_) bestows its name upon the
Sage-cock (_Centrocercus_), and makes its flesh bitter and unpleasant. The
Pheasant scratches in the ground for provender, as do Turkeys and Fowls,
while _Lophophorus_, _Catreus_, _Crossoptilon_, _Gennaeus_, _Pavo_, and so
forth, dig for roots with the bill. American Grouse, after eating _Kalmia_
shoots, are actually poisonous.
Pugnacious habits are prevalent in the Family, and naturally attain their
height in the courting season; but chief of all in this connection is the
genus _Gallus_, which will fight at any time of year, being highly valued
by the boatmen of Burma for the sport it provides. These wanderers commonly
keep a cock tied by the leg in their vessels, or possess a decoy-bird to
attract its wild relatives. Game-birds are easily naturalized or
domesticated owing to their terrestrial habits; they hybridize readily even
in a state of nature, the offspring being often fertile; such species,
moreover, as the Pheasant, Partridge, and Red-legged Partridge will
frequently use a nest in common. Occasionally the female assumes a plumage
like that of the male; for example, in the Pheasant, where such individuals
are called "Mules," and are stated to be barren. Further questions of great
interest are the moult, the Grouse disease, the shedding of the claws in
the Ptarmigan, and of the horny fringes of the toes in the {204}Tetraoninae
generally, besides such points as the loss of the Peacock's train in
summer, and the innumerable phases of plumage of the Red Grouse, Ptarmigan,
and "Bob-white" (_Ortyx_), none of which can be usefully discussed in a
limited space.
The range of the Family is nearly cosmopolitan; but the Meleagrinae only
occur in the United States and Central America; the Numidinae in Africa,
with Madagascar and the neighbouring islands; and the Phasianinae in the
Palaearctic and Indian Regions as far eastward as the Philippines, China
and Japan, and–in the case of _Gallus_–Celebes. The Perdicinae are found in
the Palaearctic, Indian and Australian Regions, though becoming decidedly
scarce in Oceania; the Odontophorinae occupy temperate and tropical America
to Bolivia and Brazil southwards; while the Tetraoninae are holarctic, the
New World genera being more numerous than those of the Old World, and
_Lagopus_ alone being common to both hemispheres.
Sub-fam. 1. _Numidinae._–Of the curious-looking Guinea-fowls, or Pintados,
_Acryllium vulturinum_ of East Africa has a long, wedge-shaped tail, and
elongated hackles on the mantle, chest, and lower neck; the upper neck and
head being naked and blue, with a crescentic nuchal band of short chestnut
feathers, and each metatarsus possessing four or five knobs in the male.
The hackles are black and white, mostly fringed with blue; the remaining
upper parts and the flanks are black spotted with white, having a purple
wash on the latter; the breast and belly are cobalt, marked with black
centrally. _Guttera_ contains four black species with light blue spots,
which show much white on the secondaries. A full and usually curly black
crest adorns the crown; the bare head and neck, with its posterior flap of
skin, is blue or purplish, and the throat is red, except in _G. pucherani_
of East Equatorial Africa, where the hind-neck only is blue, and _G.
eduardi_ (_verreauxi_) of South Africa, with no bright colours on the head,
neck, or throat. The latter, and _G. cristata_ of northern West Africa,
have rudimentary blue wattles at the gape, coupled with a black collar,
which in _G. eduardi_ extends to the breast and assumes a chestnut shade.
_G. plumifera_, ranging from Cape Lopez to Loango, has larger wattles and a
thin erect crest; _G. pucherani_ has the outgrowths red. This genus and the
next have no spurs. _Numida_, remarkable for the bony casque surmounting
the naked head and neck, possesses seven or more members of clumsy build,
with {205}white spots on the black plumage. _N. meleagris_ of West Africa
and several of its islands, introduced in Ascension and the Greater
Antilles, which is the origin of our present domestic stock, has the broad
gape-wattles and bare tracts red, save for a blue hind-neck; the small
conical helmet is yellowish, and a wide grey ring divides the neck from the
body. _N. coronata_ of eastern South Africa, _N. reichenowi_ of East
Africa, _N. cornuta_ of western South Africa, _N. marungensis_, found from
Benguela to Tanganyika, _N. mitrata_ of East Africa, Madagascar, and the
islands in the vicinity, and _N. ptilorhyncha_ of North-East Africa, lack
the collar and differ from each other in the shape of the large helmet,
which may be upright or inclined backwards. _N. ptilorhyncha_ has the naked
parts blue, and a bunch of horn-coloured bristles at the base of the
maxilla; _N. coronata_, _N. mitrata_, and _N. reichenowi_ have a reddish
casque, a scarlet top to the head, and blue cheeks and neck; the wattles
being red in the last, but blue tipped with red in the first two, as in _N.
cornuta_, where the helmet is vermilion. _N. marungensis_ has a stouter,
shorter helmet than _N. coronata_, which it much resembles. _Agelastes
meleagrides_ of West Africa is black vermiculated with whitish, and has a
zone of white feathers at the base of the neck; the bare skin of the head
is red, of the neck white. The male has a strong spur on each metatarsus,
as has _Phasidus niger_, ranging from Cape Lopez to Loango, which is
brownish-black with a band of feathers from the base of the bill to the
occiput; the naked head is in this case yellow, becoming orange on the
neck.
As regards habits, _Numida meleagris_ may represent the group. This wild
suspicious bird is found in flocks of a dozen or even a hundred, not
invariably of its own species, which frequent thick bushes, tall grass, or
rocky river-sides; it runs swiftly and with perfect ease, occasionally
travelling twenty miles a day; while, though the short wings and heavy body
preclude extended flights, it travels with considerable power. When
disturbed it usually seeks the trees, in which it roosts at night, and
under which it shelters from the sun. The food consists of grass, seeds,
roots, bulbs, berries, and insects, the ground being often torn up in the
search; the noisy cry is hoarse and discordant, or sharp and metallic; the
nest is a depression with little or no lining, placed in or under a
tussock, and contains from twelve to twenty yellowish eggs with undecided
{206}rusty spotting. _Phasidus_ is not gregarious. The rock-loving _Numida
ptilorhyncha_ attains an altitude of nine thousand feet.
Sub-fam. 2. _Meleagrinae._–Of the Turkeys,[153] there are only two species,
_Meleagris gallipavo_ and _M. ocellata_. The former has three
races–distinguished by the tail and its upper coverts being tipped with
white, buff, and chestnut respectively–the united range extending from
Southern Canada to Mexico through the Eastern and South-Western States.
They are coppery-bronze, with purplish-green and golden sheen and black
markings; the remiges being brown barred with white, and the tail black and
brown with broad dark sub-terminal band. The reddish head and neck are
nearly bare, shewing wrinkled warty skin and a pendent erectile process on
the forehead; a bunch of long black bristles decorates the chest of the
male, which has a stout spur on each metatarsus. The bill and feet are red.
_M. ocellata_ of Yucatan, British Honduras, and Guatemala, has black
plumage, tipped with brassy-green, and fringed with greenish-copper, that
becomes redder below; the rump region is steel-blue, and brilliant ocelli
of green-blue margined with copper mark the ends of the greyish rectrices
and their coverts. The frontal caruncle and the head are blue, with red tip
and excrescences respectively, while the pectoral tuft is absent.
The wild Turkey is wary and extremely quick of foot, spending the day
chiefly upon the ground and roosting high in the trees; it frequents wooded
country, and feeds upon plants, seeds, nuts and other fruits, with lizards
and insects. In spring the males fight viciously, and show off before the
assembled hens; strutting around with erect, outspread tails and drooping
wings, while uttering puffing and gobbling noises. Each cock having secured
a mate or two, breeding takes place, after which the sexes separate, but
combine again in autumn and wander widely in search of food. A hole,
scraped under some log or tuft of herbage, and lined with dry leaves,
receives the yellowish-white eggs with red-brown spots; the number varying
from ten to eighteen, or even more if several hens co-operate.
Sub-fam. 3. _Phasianinae._–Among these a detailed description is
unnecessary of the fine blue, green, and rufous plumage of the Peacock
(_Pavo cristatus_), or of the green, purple, copper, and gold ocelli
{207}on its elongated train of erectile tail-coverts; but other striking
points are the bare-shafted crest and naked white face; while the
comparatively dull-coloured Pea-hen lacks the train of the male and the
spur on each metatarsus. In the wild state these birds are shy, and run
particularly fast, while they occasionally fly in small flocks; they
inhabit the hill-forests or ravines near water-courses in India and Ceylon,
roosting in large trees, making a slight nest on the ground, ruined
buildings, or more rarely branches, and laying from four to about ten
yellowish or reddish eggs, sometimes faintly spotted with rufous. The cry
is a harsh mewing squeal, or a "cok-cok-cok" when flushed; the food
resembles that of the Turkey, but is at times varied by fish or flesh; and,
as in that bird, the males are said to dance or strut around when courting,
each securing three or four consorts. Peafowl are supposed to indicate the
proximity of tigers, and are sacred to various Indian castes, while foolish
superstition considers the eyed feathers unlucky! Introduced to England at
some very early date, they were formerly thought a great delicacy for the
table. _P. nigripennis_, the "Japanned Peacock," is a species, or perhaps
variety, with deep blue wing-coverts and other slighter differences, the
female being almost entirely greyish-white; _P. muticus_, a valid species
from the Indo-Chinese countries and Java, is distinguished by the
golden-green neck and chest and the blue and yellow skin of the face; the
crest feathers being here fully webbed.
_Argusianus argus_, the Argus Pheasant, has a short black crest; black,
rufous, and buff plumage with white barring on the nape and tail-coverts;
and enormously developed secondaries and median rectrices, covered
respectively with large reddish-yellow and small white ocelli, which are
margined with black; the naked cheeks and throat are blue, the bill is
bluish-white, the feet are red. It inhabits the forests of the Indo-Malay
mainland and Sumatra, the cock being said only to meet the hens
occasionally, and to reserve an open spot for courting purposes, where he
shows himself off by dancing before them with the tail and secondaries
expanded into a large fan. This bird flies little, but runs with celerity,
having a loud cry, feeding on vegetable matter and insects, nesting like
the Pea-fowl, and laying similar eggs. _A. grayi_ of Borneo shows white on
the mantle and much red on the breast, _A. bipunctatus_ is only known from
an imperfect primary. The females lack the ocelli and elongated tail. _A._
{208}(_Rheinardtius_) _ocellatus_, of the Tonkin highlands, is brown with
reddish markings and minute white dots; it has a hairy occipital crest, and
exhibits fine red spots, with black white-eyed central rings, on the very
long median rectrices and their upper coverts.
In _Polyplectron_ (Peacock-Pheasant) the male has two or even three spurs
on the metatarsus. _P. chinquis_ of the Indo-Chinese countries is brown,
with whitish dots above and mottlings below; the head is black and white
with naked yellowish sides; the upper plumage is adorned with large, round,
metallic, purple-green ocelli, ringed successively with black, brown, and
buff, of which the tail and its upper-coverts exhibit one on each web. _P.
germaini_ of Cochin China has close-set light brown specks above, and a red
face; _P. bicalcaratum_ of the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra has the latter
similarly coloured, with black and buff upper surface, a narrow purplish
crest, and lateral rectrices with an "eye" only on the outer web; _P.
schleiermacheri_ of Borneo has the crest curled forward, and blackish under
parts with a white median band; whereas _P. nehrkornae_ of Paláwan, and the
doubtfully distinct _P. napoleonis_, are entirely black below. As regards
the duller females, _P. chinquis_ and _P. germaini_ have obscure ocelli on
both webs of the lateral tail-feathers, the other species on the outer web
only; moreover, _P. chinquis_, _P. schleiermacheri_, and _P. nehrkornae_
have none on the tail-coverts, the latter lacking the black blotches on the
mantle found in _P. bicalcaratum_ and _P. schleiermacheri_. _P._
(_Chalcurus_) _inocellatus_ of Sumatra is brown and buff, with purple and
black tints on the tail. Little is known of the habits, except in _P.
chinquis_, which is apparently monogamous, and frequents thick hill-forests
up to an altitude of five thousand feet. It feeds like the Peafowl, has a
fine whistling call varied by a soft cluck, and will take refuge in trees,
though preferring to escape on foot. The cock carries his outspread tail on
one side, while the hen uses hers to shelter the young. The fairly
substantial nest of twigs and leaves, usually containing two brownish eggs,
is placed on the ground.
Of the four species of _Gallus_, _G. ferrugineus_ (_bankiva_), the Red
Jungle-fowl–Bhund Moorg of the natives of India–shewing much resemblance to
the "Black-breasted Game" breed, is the origin of our domestic stock.[154]
It has a vaulted tail with long drooping median feathers, a serrated red
comb, naked red face and throat, {209}with a wattle on each side of the
latter, a spur on each metatarsus, and ear-lappets, which are whitish in
Indian examples, but red in Burmese and Malay. The crown and the hackles of
the mantle and rump are orange-red, the back is chiefly purplish-red, and
the wings, tail, and under parts are glossy greenish-black, with yellowish
outer margins to the primaries and brownish to the secondaries. Between
June and September the hackles and long tail plumes are replaced by short
black feathers. The hen has little comb, no wattles, spurs, or elongated
rectrices; the crown is reddish and the mantle yellowish, both with black
stripes; the wing- and tail-quills are brown and rufous; the remaining
plumage being reddish-brown, deeper on the fore-neck and brighter on the
chest, with black mottling above. This Jungle-fowl ranges from
North-Eastern and Central India to Hainan, and from Sumatra to the
Philippines, Celebes, and Timor; frequenting thickets and forests up to
five thousand feet, but often flocking to cultivated country, where it
feeds upon leaves, seeds, insects, and especially grain. Pugnacious towards
its kin[155] it is timid with man, running with great speed or taking
refuge in trees; the flight consists of alternate periods of flapping and
sailing, while the cluck of the hen and the crow of the cock resemble those
of domestic fowls, though the latter is less prolonged. The nest is a hole
lined with leaves, grass, or plant-stems, containing from seven to twelve
buff eggs; polygamy being apparently rare. _G. sonnerati_, the Grey
Jungle-fowl of Southern, Central, and Western India, is distinguishable by
the dilated shafts of the neck-hackles, with their wax-like yellow tips or
spangles; _G. lafayettii_ (_stanleyi_) of Ceylon by the yellow comb with
red margin, and the red breast. The former utters a broken crow, the latter
a double note, the eggs in both cases being spotted, and occasionally
whitish in ground-colour. _G. varius_ of Java, Lombok, and Flores, is
greener, with truncated neck-feathers, an unserrated comb, and a single
median wattle of red, yellow, and blue-green. The hens of _G. sonnerati_
and _G. lafayettii_ have white breast-plumage, barred and fringed with
black, the former shewing black mottlings instead of bars on the
secondaries; that of _G. varius_ has a buff breast and a blackish back. In
these three species crosses with domestic fowls are said to be usually
sterile.
_Chrysolophus pictus_, the brilliant Golden Pheasant, has the {210}crown
and full recumbent hair-like crest golden, the fine erectile cape of
truncated nape-plumes orange with blue-black bars, the mantle dark green
and purple, the rump golden, the primaries brownish, the secondaries
purplish with chestnut and black coverts, the larger tail-coverts and the
vaulted tail with its two very long median rectrices black, with brown
spots or stripes, the scapulars and under parts scarlet, and the cheeks and
throat rufous. There are generally two spurs on each metatarsus, and the
bare orbits are yellowish. The female is brown, relieved by black and buff,
and has a shorter tail, no crest or cape. This bird, difficult to
naturalize in Britain, but easily domesticated, inhabits wooded mountains
in South and West China and East Tibet, meeting in the last two countries
the equally beautiful Lady Amherst's Pheasant (_C. amherstiae_), which has
dark green crown, mantle, throat, and chest, blood-red crest, white cape
with blue-black bars, black and buff rump, glossy green and brown wings,
white breast and abdomen, and black and white tail with scarlet and orange
tips to the coverts. The orbits are blue in both sexes, the female being
otherwise as in _C. pictus_.
The original Pheasant of Britain–probably introduced by the Romans–was
_Phasianus colchicus_, ranging from the Caspian to South-East Europe; but
the Ring-necked species (_P. torquatus_) of Manchuria, East Mongolia,
Corea, Tsu-sima, and Eastern China, imported towards the end of last
century, has interbred with it so freely that typical examples are now
exceptional. The latter form has a white collar and slaty lower back with
dark green barring; while the former has the rump feathers buff, with black
mottlings and purplish-red tips. The females, hardly separable from one
another, lack the red face-wattles, the long ear-tufts, and the pair of
spurs of the male. The above-mentioned colour of the lower back and the
comparatively broad black basal tail-bands, are the distinguishing points
of a section, which comprises _P. torquatus_, _P. elegans_ of West China,
_P. vlangali_ of Tsaidam, _P. strauchi_ of Kansu, _P. decollatus_ of
Western and Central China, _P. satscheunensis_ of Sa-tscheu, _P.
formosanus_ of Formosa, and _P. versicolor_ of Japan. Another section, more
akin to _P. colchicus_, contains _P. tarimensis_ and _P. zerafshanicus_ of
the Tarim and Zerafshan Valleys, _P. persicus_ of Persia and Transcaspia,
_P. principalis_ of North-East Persia and North-West Afghanistan, _P.
shawi_ of East Turkestan, _P. chrysomelas_ of the Amu-Darya, and {211}_P.
mongolicus_, extending from the Syr-Daria to Mongolia. All these races have
the crown greenish, and differ chiefly in the colour of the scapulars,
breast, rump, and abdomen; a white collar occurring in _P. torquatus_, _P.
mongolicus_, _P. satscheunensis_, and _P. formosanus_, while _P.
versicolor_ is green below. Where two forms meet hybrids are not uncommon.
In _P. soemmerringi_ of Japan, _P. ellioti_ of South-East China, and _P.
humiae_ of Manipur and Upper Burma the crown is red-brown, the first
species having the lower back maroon with gold reflexions, the two others a
black and white rump, with white and chestnut belly respectively. _P.
reevesi_ of North and West China has the crown white encircled by black,
the nape and throat white with a subjacent black collar, the remaining
upper parts yellowish-red and black, with white and rufous on the wings,
the breast black, white, and chestnut, the abdomen black, the tail is
extremely long.
[Illustration: FIG. 46.–Pheasant. _Phasianus colchicus._ × ⅐.]
{212}Space is wanting to describe the various females, or to discuss the
sport that Pheasants afford; but the swift flight, the powers of foot, the
polygamous and pugnacious habits, the olive-coloured eggs, and the immense
numbers reared artificially, must be noticed.[156] _P. reevesi_, Reeves's
Pheasant, _P. versicolor_, the Green Pheasant, and _P. soemmerringi_, the
Copper Pheasant, have also been introduced into Britain, the two latter and
_P. torquatus_ into Oregon, _P. colchicus_ into the Eastern United States;
New Zealand has received both _P. colchicus_ and _P. torquatus_, St. Helena
and Ascension _P. torquatus_ only–the former island as early as 1513.
_Catreus wallichi_ of the Himalayas has a brown head with fine white-tipped
crest; a grey neck, yellowish and whitish upper parts, black and buff
primaries, and a rufous rump, all with black barring; the under surface is
light buff with black marks, the naked orbits are red. The male has a pair
of spurs and very long median rectrices; the female being brown mottled
with black and buff, having a smaller crest, a shorter tail, and at times
rudimentary spurs. Considerable flocks frequent the grassy forest-hills up
to an altitude of eight thousand feet, lying very closely in the day-time,
though running with great speed when disturbed, and flying heavily for a
short way; they feed towards evening on roots, seeds, berries, grubs, and
insects, reiterating the peculiar call, whence they are named Cheer. The
slight nest, generally sheltered by a bush or tussock at the base of a
hill, contains from nine to fourteen whitish or pale drab eggs, sometimes
sparingly spotted with red-brown.
_Pucrasia_ contains six species or local races of "Pukras" or Koklas
Pheasants, with long, black, erectile ear-tufts in the male, which has a
spur on each metatarsus, but no naked cheeks. _P. macrolopha_ of the
Western Himalayas has a well-developed buff crest, a greenish-black head
and neck with a white patch on each side of the latter, grey upper parts
and whitish flanks with black shaft-stripes, brownish wings marked with
buff, chestnut under parts and median feathers of the elongated,
wedge-shaped tail, and blackish lateral rectrices with white tips. The
black and rufous hen has a white throat, a short crest, and no ear-tufts or
spurs. _P. castanea_ of North Afghanistan and Kafiristan has the mantle
chestnut, _P. nipalensis_ of the Central Himalayas black varied by grey and
reddish; _P. meyeri_ of South Tibet and the {213}Upper Mekong possesses a
yellow nuchal collar; _P. darwini_ of East China has grey bases to the
outer tail-feathers; _P. xanthospila_ exhibiting both. These monogamous
birds attain a somewhat higher elevation than the Cheer, and utter a loud,
deep crow; but otherwise the habits are the same. The five to nine pointed
eggs are buff, speckled or blotched with red-brown.
_Gennaeus_[157] has a long vaulted tail, a fine crest, naked sides to the
face covered with red skin or wattles, and metatarsi with a single spur in
the male. In _G. albicristatus_ of the Western Himalayas the crest is
white, the head and upper parts being black with purple and blue reflexions
and white margins to the dorsal feathers, the primaries and abdomen brown,
and the breast whitish. The female is reddish-brown, with delicate black
markings on the grey-margined upper feathers, and shews white below and on
the wing-coverts. _G. leucomelanus_, with blue-black crest, inhabits Nepal;
_G. muthura_ (_melanotus_), without white on the lower back, occurs in
Sikkim and Bhutan; _G. horsfieldi_, with black breast, extending from East
Bhutan to North Arakan and Upper Burma. All the above species have the tail
black, or rarely vermiculated with white; but in _G. lineatus_ of Burma,
Siam, and Tenasserim, and the very similar _G. andersoni_ of Upper Burma
and West Yunnan, it is banded alternately with black and white, and the
median rectrices are even whiter. _G. edwardsi_ inhabits Annam. _G.
nycthemerus_, the Silver Pheasant of South China, embroidered as a badge on
mandarins' dresses, and introduced into England early in last century, has
an extremely long white tail, obliquely marked with black on the lateral
feathers, a purplish-black crown, crest and lower surface, white back of
the neck and upper parts with crescentic black lines on the latter, and
naked red face. _G. swinhoii_ of Formosa is easily distinguished from its
allies by the bronzy-crimson scapulars, white crest, upper back, and median
rectrices; the remaining plumage being bluish- or purplish-black with a
glossy dark green band upon the wing. The female is mottled with rufous,
black, and buff, and has a short crest, while that sex of the Silver
Pheasant is browner, and exhibits white on the outer tail-feathers. These
"Kalleges"–a name strictly applicable to the first four species
only–frequent thin forests in low valleys, and are but slightly gregarious;
they perch on trees, and {214}fly short distances when flushed; the note is
a shrill crow, a whistling chuckle or a "chirrup;" the food is as usual in
Pheasants. The pugnacious male is said to strut with outspread tail, and to
drum with his wings while courting; the nest, formed of dry herbage in a
depression of the soil, contains from nine to fourteen creamy or
reddish-buff eggs.
The "Eared" or Snow-Pheasants (_Crossoptilon_) have a vaulted tail with
decomposed webs to the long decurved median feathers, fine white ear-tufts,
and lax hairy plumage, shorter and curled on the crown. The naked papillose
cheeks and the metatarsi are red, with a pair of stout spurs on the latter
in the male. _C. tibetanum_ of West China and East Tibet is white, with
black crown, dark brown remiges, and greenish- or purplish-black rectrices.
_C. leucurum_ of East Tibet has the tail white with blue-black tip, as has
_C. manchuricum_ of Manchuria and North China, in which the mantle, nape,
and breast are blackish-brown, with a faint white band between the
ear-coverts, found also in _C. auritum_ of West China and Koko-Nor, and
well defined in _C. harmani_ of Tibet. The last two have the nape, back,
and under parts grey-blue. These elegant birds haunt lofty mountain-woods
until cold weather comes on; they are comparatively tame, feed on leaves,
shoots, roots, fruit, worms, and insects, and lay–at least in the case of
_C. manchuricum_–from twelve to sixteen drab eggs. The plumes are worn by
Tartar and Chinese warriors.
_Lobiophasis bulweri_ of Borneo is a splendid bird with maroon nuchal
collar and chest, brown remiges, white tail, and black plumage elsewhere
with blue margins to most of the feathers. The stiff spine-pointed
rectrices number twenty-eight in the hen and no less than thirty-two in the
cock, the whole tail being compressed and the median plumes decurved; in
the male the skin of the naked front of the head is blue, as are two
caruncles present behind the ears, two smaller processes on the lores, and
two wattles at the gape. The rufous, buff, and black female has only the
sides of the face bare, with diminutive lateral wattles on the throat. This
species skulks in the jungles, and prefers running to flying, having many
of the habits of a fowl, though ranging up to two thousand feet; the eggs
are stone-coloured.
The magnificent Firebacks (_Lophura_) have, so far as is known, similar
habits to the members of _Gennaeus_, though they are stronger on the wing,
and utter mellower notes in their forest retreats; {215}the tail is
vaulted, the cheeks exhibit patches of rugose blue skin–red in _L.
diardi_–while the male has a pair of spurs and an erect crest with
bare-shafted plumes. _L. nobilis_ of Borneo is purplish-blue with fiery
chestnut rump-region, golden lower breast, black head, throat, and wings,
the four median rectrices being entirely buff and the lateral black with
buff markings; _L. vieilloti_ of Siam, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra has
the lower breast black, and the two middle rectrices white, _L. ignita_ of
China differing in its chestnut-spotted flanks; _L. diardi_ (_praelata_) of
Siam, Cambodia, and Cochin China has a grey and black mantle, neck, and
breast, a golden buff lower back, and crimson-tipped rump-feathers. The
females have the mantle red-brown or chestnut, and outer rectrices of the
latter colour in _L. vieilloti_, but black in _L. nobilis_; in _L. diardi_
the black wing-coverts have wide buff bars. This sex of _L. ignita_ seems
to be unknown. _Acomus_ has naked cheeks, but no crest or wattles; the tail
is vaulted, and a pair of spurs is found in both sexes. _A.
erythrophthalmus_ of the southern Malay Peninsula and Sumatra is chiefly
purplish- or bluish-black with fiery golden lower back, rich buff tail, and
white wing-markings; _A. pyronotus_ of Borneo exhibits white shaft-stripes
on the breast; _A. inornatus_ of West Sumatra, of which the male only has
been discovered, has black plumage margined with dark blue-green, therein
somewhat resembling the hens of its congeners, which are black glossed with
purplish-blue. In habits this genus apparently resembles _Lophura_.
_Lophophorus_ contains four gorgeous species of almost unsurpassable
brilliancy, among which the Monal, constantly misnamed the Impeyan
Pheasant, is best known. The tail is rounded, each metatarsus is provided
with a spur in the male, and bare blue skin surrounds the eye. The
Himalayan Monal (_L. refulgens_) has a crest like that of the Peacock,
uniform in colour with the purplish-green head; the neck is purple,
coppery, and green, the mantle golden-green, the lower back white, and the
tail chestnut; the wing- and tail-coverts being green or purple with blue
and green reflexions, the under parts black, and the remiges dusky. Its
habits differ somewhat from those of other Pheasants, a preference being
shown for grassy hill-forests not far from the snow-line; it roosts in
trees, though generally found on the ground during the day, and is not very
wild, trusting to its speed of foot in open spots, but readily taking to
wing in the {216}woodlands. The flight is rapid and powerful, while the
male is said to soar without perceptible movement of the pinions; the usual
cry is a loud melancholy whistle. The long stout beak serves to dig up
roots for food; but grain, fruit, grass, and insect-larvae are also eaten.
The nest, or sheltered unlined excavation in the soil, contains from four
to six oval cream-coloured eggs, closely spotted or blotched with
reddish-brown. The cocks are reported to be non-pugnacious, and the hens
semi-gregarious while breeding. _L. impeyanus_ of South Kashmir, the true
Impeyan Pheasant, differs in its golden-green lower back and under parts;
_L. l'huysi_ of Sze-chuen and Koko-Nor has an ordinary crest, and white
spots on the blue, green, and black tail; _L. sclateri_ of North-East Assam
has a curly crown with no crest, and white-tipped rectrices; the two latter
forms being black beneath and white on the lower back. The slightly-crested
females are black, buff, and white; the lower back is black and buff in _L.
refulgens_, whitish mottled with brown in _L. sclateri_, and white in _L.
l'huysi_.
Of Tragopan (_Ceriornis_) there are five species, remarkable for the fleshy
blue horn above each eye and the large gular wattle in the male, who erects
the former and inflates the latter when courting. The fore-part of the head
and throat are naked or merely hairy, while the crested cock-bird possesses
a pair of short spurs, rarely present in his mate. _C. satyrus_, the Horned
Pheasant of the Central and Eastern Himalayas, has the crown and throat
black, the occiput, neck, and lower parts orange-red with stiff
chest-plumes, the back brown, the remiges and rectrices black and buff.
Most of the body-feathers exhibit black-margined white spots, and the outer
wing-coverts additional red marks; while the wattle is orange barred with
blue. _C. melanocephalus_ of the Western Himalayas has a longer crest
tipped with red, none of that colour on the occiput, the breast black and
red, and a purple wattle with flesh-coloured sides, blue margin and spots.
_C. temmincki_ of Central and South-West China has the crest and under
parts red, the wattle blue barred marginally with red, and the
characteristic spots grey without black rings. _C. blythi_ of North-East
Assam and Manipur has the wattle yellow tinged with blue, and a plain grey
breast; whereas _C. caboti_ of South-East China has the latter region buff.
The hens are black and buff with whitish spots. These shy solitary birds
occupy the higher hill-forests, being apparently {217}monogamous, though
found in small companies at times; they run slowly, take refuge in trees,
and fly with a whirring sound. They roost aloft, but feed constantly upon
the ground, eating grubs, insects, roots, flowers, fruits, and especially
seeds or herbage; the note is a deep monotonous "bellowing" or "wailing
sound." The fleshy excrescences are said to be chiefly developed in the
breeding season, when the male, who possibly assists in incubation, struts
before his consort like a Turkey. A nest is sometimes formed of twigs,
grass, and feathers to contain the seven or eight whitish eggs with dull
lilac spots or red freckles. Tragopans are mistakenly termed "Argus" by
sportsmen in India.
[Illustration: FIG. 47.–Cabot's Tragopan. _Ceriornis caboti._ × ⅙. (From
_Nature_.)]
In _Ithagenes_, or Blood-Pheasant, the bill is short and stout, the tail
fairly long and rounded, the plumage soft and acuminate; the orbits are
naked and red, and each metatarsus is armed with two or more spurs,
generally absent in the female. _I. cruentus_ of the Eastern Himalayas and
Tibet has a full buff crest, black forehead and lores, lead-coloured back
and wings, brownish remiges and rectrices with white tips to the latter,
and a green {218}wash on the wing-coverts and rump. The cheeks, throat, and
much of the upper and under tail-coverts are crimson, the breast is
yellow-green with crimson streaks. _I. geoffroyi_ of East Tibet and West
China has a grey head and throat; _I. sinensis_ of Mongolia and North China
is similar, with rufous for green on the wing-coverts. Females are grey,
brown, and buff. Found in flocks of twenty or thirty at altitudes between
ten and fourteen thousand feet, these bold birds have limited powers of
flight, great speed of foot, and a weak cackling note; they bury themselves
occasionally in the snow, as do certain Grouse (p. 238), and feed on grass,
insects, berries, and shoots of juniper or pine.
If a Sub-family _Perdicinae_ be admitted, it may be commenced[158] with the
little known _Ophrysia superciliosa_ of North-West India, a soft-plumaged
greyish-brown species with black and white markings on the head; next to
which comes _Galloperdix_, the Spur-Fowl, with a large bare eye-space, and
two or three spurs on each foot in the male, reduced to a single pair in
the female. _G. spadicea_ of India, which has been introduced into
Madagascar, has a brown crown, and chestnut plumage elsewhere, with grey
margins to the feathers, and black vermiculations on the wing-coverts and
rump; the female being mottled with black. _G. lunulata_, another Indian
form, has the crown black with white streaks, the breast buff with black
spots, and black-ringed white ocelli on the mantle; _G. bicalcarata_ of
Ceylon has both mantle and crown black with white stripes, and the breast
whiter. These birds frequent thick jungles near the coast, or hills up to
seven thousand feet, and are extremely wild, though hard to flush; they
resort to trees in emergencies, and roost in them at night; the note is a
harsh or plaintive whistle; the food consists of grain, insects, and their
larvae. Four, five, or even ten whitish or buff eggs are deposited on a few
dry leaves below some sheltering shrub. The cocks are stated to fight as
viciously as Jungle-Fowl. _Bambusicola fytchii_, the Bamboo-Partridge,
found from North-East India to China, has the crown and ear-coverts
red-brown; the upper parts olive-brown, varied in places with black and
buff, and longitudinally marked with chestnut, except towards the rump; the
wing- and tail-quills reddish mottled with buff; the superciliary stripe,
throat, {219}and breast buff, the chest brown with chestnut and white
blotches, the flanks spotted with black. _B. thoracica_ of South China and
_B. sonorivox_ of Formosa have grey superciliary stripes, and the latter
grey ear-coverts. The females only differ from the males in rarely
possessing a pair of spurs. These species do not form coveys, but haunt
long grass and bamboo-thickets on the hills, being difficult to put up, and
uttering screaming noises; they readily challenge their neighbours to
fight, roost in trees, and lay from seven to twelve creamy-brown eggs under
shelter of a tussock or bush. _Ptilopachys fuscus_ of the northern
Ethiopian Region has brown plumage with white margins, and vermiculations
or darker barring in many parts, the mid-breast being buff and the naked
orbits red. The sexes are similar. Small parties or pairs frequent rocky
hill-sides up to nine thousand feet, and are very pugnacious; they carry
the tail folded, as do domestic fowls, have a sharp call-note and lay
whitish eggs.
In _Excalphatoria_ the short tail of eight soft feathers is entirely hidden
by the coverts. _E. sinensis_, the Chinese or Painted Quail, the smallest
of the Phasianidae, is brown above with black marking and rufous streaks, a
bluish shade appearing in places, and chestnut patches shewing on the
wing-coverts; the throat and sides of the neck are black and white, the
black forming a central patch below the chin; the remaining lower parts are
slate-blue with a median chestnut patch on the breast. It is found from
India and Ceylon to Formosa, and in Celebes; a darker race occupying the
Philippines, many of the Malay Islands, and Australia. _E. lepida_ of New
Britain, New Ireland, and the Duke of York Islands has no chestnut on the
wing, and little below; _E. adansoni_, of Africa south of lat. 5° N., is
slaty-brown above, and has chestnut scapulars, wing- and tail-coverts with
grey shaft-stripes. The females have white throats and rufous breasts
barred with black. The Australian form, or Least Swamp-Quail, abounds in
marshes, the Indian frequents dry ground as well, the coveys being composed
of single broods, which feed mainly upon seeds. The flight is very brief,
the nest a mere pad of grass, on which lie five or six olive-drab eggs,
scantily spotted with purple or red-brown. _Synoecus australis_, the
Swamp-Quail of Australia, Tasmania, and South-East New Guinea, is
reddish-brown and grey above, with more or less distinct black mottlings;
the throat is whitish, the under {220}surface is buff, with black chevrons
in younger birds. The female lacks the grey tints, and is more coarsely
barred with black. Gould describes the habits and call as resembling those
of the Common Partridge, but they are better exemplified by those of
_Excalphatoria_, while the eggs vary from ten to fourteen, and are creamy
or greenish-white, generally closely freckled with brown. _S. raalteni_ of
Timor and Flores has a rufous throat.
Of the true Quails six species may be admitted. _Coturnix communis_, the
Common Quail, though essentially a migrant in the north, ranges throughout
Europe, Asia, and Africa, and breeds not uncommonly in Britain, having also
been introduced into the Eastern United States; while another African race
(_C. capensis_ auctt.) only differs in its reddish throat. The crown is
dark brown with a light streak down the centre and above each eye; the
upper parts are brown and black with buff longitudinal stripes, becoming
mottlings on the remiges; the throat is white with a black median patch
connected with the ear-coverts by two upcurved lines: the breast is
reddish-buff, the abdomen yellowish-white, the flanks are mottled or barred
with brown. The short tail of ten or twelve feathers lies entirely below
the coverts. The hen-bird has black pectoral spots and a perfectly white
throat. _C. japonica_ of East Asia and Japan, occasionally found in Bhutan
and Burma, has a plain brick-red throat, the sides of which and the chin
exhibit lanceolate feathers in the female. Hybrids between this species and
the Common Quail occur where their ranges overlap; individuals, moreover,
present great variation. _C. coromandelica_ of India and the Burmese
countries, _C. delegorguii_ of the Ethiopian Region, _C. pectoralis_ of
Australia and Tasmania, and the nearly extinct _C. novae zealandiae_ of New
Zealand, have the outer webs of the primaries uniform brown in both sexes;
the males of the first two have the throat as in _C. communis_, with a
black patch on the breast, and buff and chestnut under parts respectively;
the third has the throat plain brick-coloured; and the fourth still
brighter red. The females have no throat-mark, the hen of _C. delegorguii_
being blackish-brown above, and that of _C. pectoralis_ shewing black
chest-bands, which in _C. novae zealandiae_ cover most of the feathers.
That Quails can traverse long distances is evidenced by the migration of
large flocks in spring and autumn; but, as a rule, their flight is short,
and they rise with great reluctance, though with considerable
{221}velocity. The trisyllabic note of the male is rendered "wet-my-lips"
by country-folk; the food consists of seeds, slugs, and insects, sought
among the grassy flats in general frequented. From seven to fifteen
yellowish or white eggs, with dark brown blotches or marblings, are
deposited in a hollow lined with bits of herbage, in standing corn or
grass, the hen sitting very closely and feigning lameness to draw attention
from the young. The male appears to be usually monogamous, while the broods
or "bevies" do not form coveys. Two of these broods are said to be
occasionally reared in a season, but how far such statements are due to the
destruction of the first complement of eggs must remain doubtful, as in the
case of so many other birds that breed on the ground.[159]
_Melanoperdix nigra_, of the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, and Sumatra, is
glossy black with browner primaries, the female being chestnut, with black
markings and a whitish chin. It inhabits the lowlands and lays five eggs.
_Rollulus roulroul_ is a most remarkable form with a frontal tuft of long
black bristles. In the male the fore-part of the head is black, separated
by a white band from the full hairy crest of maroon, which covers the
occiput; the upper parts are dark green glossed with blue, the wing-coverts
being maroon, and the quills brown and buff. The tail and under parts are
black, a blue tint shewing on the breast; the base of the black bill, the
feet, and the naked orbits are scarlet. The female has a blackish head with
moderate crest, a grass-green body with chestnut wing-coverts edged with
maroon, and a black bill. These birds inhabit the dense forests of the
Malay Peninsula, Tenasserim, Siam, Borneo, Sumatra, and Java, up to an
altitude of a few thousand feet; they hunt in small parties for seeds,
berries, and insects, are very shy, quick of movement and hard to flush,
and utter a mellow whistle. _Caloperdix oculea_ of similar range to
_Rollulus_–unless we separate _C. borneensis_ with more chestnut throat–has
the crown, neck, and under parts rufous-chestnut, the back and tail black
with crescentic white anterior and reddish posterior markings, the
wing-coverts brown with round black spots, the quills brown and buff, the
face and throat buff, a white supra-aural stripe, and black flanks with
whitish bars. The male is only distinguished by possessing a pair or two of
spurs. This bird haunts dense uninhabited forests, and eats insects, seeds,
and berries. _Haematortyx {222}sanguiniceps_, of the mountain-forests of
Northern Borneo, is brownish-black; the slightly-crested head, the throat,
upper breast and under tail-coverts being crimson with black tips to the
last-named, and the metatarsi possessing three pairs of spurs. The
rump-feathers have partly expanded shafts. The female has the throat
rufous, the upper breast deep chestnut, and no spurs. _Arboricola_ contains
nearly twenty species with almost naked throats, ranging from Northern
India to the Indo-Chinese countries, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Formosa.
The following may be taken as examples of this genus, the sexes being
usually alike. _A. torqueola_ of the Himalayas has a chestnut crown, red,
black, and white nape, olive and black upper parts, varied with chestnut
and buff on the wings, black cheeks, throat, fore-neck, and superciliary
stripe, a white line down the sides of the throat, a white band surmounting
the grey breast, and grey flanks with chestnut and white markings. In the
female the crown is brown and black, the throat, cheeks, and so forth,
rufous with black spots, the chest-band rusty-red. _A. ardens_ of Hainan,
of which the male only is known, is easily recognised by the peculiar
shining orange-scarlet patch of stiff hair-like feathers on the fore-neck.
_A. javanica_ of Java has the head rufous with brownish crown, a black band
surrounding the eyes and crossing the occiput, another encircling the base
of the neck, joined to the former by a black line down the rust-coloured
nape, and a third running from the throat to the sides of the neck. The
upper parts are dark grey barred with black, the wings exhibiting chestnut
and olive tints; the chest is grey; the remaining lower parts are chestnut.
_A. chloropus_ of Lower Burma and Cochin China has the crown and nape
brown, the superciliary stripe, throat, and lores black and white, the
fore-neck buff with black spots and margin, the upper parts and chest brown
and black with rufous on the wings and rump-region, the breast red, the
abdomen, sides, and black-barred flanks buff. In this genus the orbital and
even the gular skin is crimson or purplish, the feet are commonly red, the
bill rarely so. The various species form coveys, which frequent grassy
hill-jungles and wooded ravines up to more than ten thousand feet; they are
usually unsuspicious, and run before an intruder, but occasionally perch in
trees, and fly rapidly when forced to rise; the single whistling note is
loud but mellow; the food consists of leaves, roots, berries, seeds, grubs,
and molluscs; the four white eggs, {223}sometimes speckled with grey, are
deposited with little or no nest, at the foot of a tree, or under a tussock
among thin scrub.
_Microperdix_ and _Perdicula_, the Bush Quails of Anglo-Indians, have a
blunt tubercle on each foot in the male. _M. erythrorhyncha_ of South and
West India has the crown and cheeks black; a white frontal band continued
down the sides of the head; brown upper parts, with round buff
black-centred spots on the back, and black and buff markings on the wings
and tail; a white throat bordered by black; and a grey-brown chest and
rufous breast, with black spots on the former and the flanks. The bill and
feet are red. In the female the crown is brown, the throat and cheeks being
rufous. _M. blewitti_ of Central India is only slightly different; but _M.
manipurensis_ of Manipur has a chestnut throat, becoming grey in the hen.
These active Quail-like little birds haunt the lower mountain-thickets up
to perhaps eight thousand feet, forming small coveys, feeding on seeds and
insects, and fashioning a slight nest under some sort of cover, to contain
from ten to fourteen pointed creamy-brown eggs. _Perdicula asiatica_ of
India and Ceylon is brown above, with wavy black dorsal barring, and black
and buff markings on the wings and tail; the superciliary stripes and
throat are chestnut with whitish margins; the under parts white with black
bars; the feet red. The female is uniform buff below. _P. argoondah_ of
India has dull brick-red in place of the chestnut, and a whitish throat in
the hen. It has been introduced into Mauritius. The habits are much as in
_Microperdix_, but the nest is sometimes more elaborate, and the
reddish-white or olive-coloured eggs, with possibly a few faint spots,
number from five to seven. _Margaroperdix madagascariensis_ of Madagascar,
imported into Mauritius and Réunion, has a black head with reddish-brown
sides to the crown, a white stripe from above each eye running laterally
down the neck, two others from the gape down the margin of the throat,
rufous and black upper parts, with buff bars upon the wings and
rump-region, and white shaft-streaks except upon the quills. The red-brown
chest and black under surface are both margined with grey, and the latter
is spotted with white; the flanks are chestnut, black, and white. It is
called "Tro-tro," "Timpoy," or "Tsipoy" by the Malagasy, and inhabits
grassy hills, flying rapidly for short distances, and laying from about
fifteen to twenty eggs. Natives say that if {224}you break these eggs you
cause the death of your father, if you spare them that of your mother![160]
The genus _Perdix_ contains the Common Partridge (_P. cinerea_), so
valuable for purposes of food and sport, of which it is needless to
describe the plumage; yet attention may be drawn to the dark chestnut
horse-shoe mark on the grey breast, nearly obsolete in most adult females,
and the broad ruddy bars on the sides and flanks. The hen may be invariably
distinguished by wide-set buff bands on the black scapulars and adjoining
wing-coverts, which in the cock are light brown with black vermiculations
and chestnut blotches. The latter sex, moreover, has grey instead of brown
sides to the neck.[161] Great variation is noticeable in the coloration,
specimens from dry soils exhibiting the richest hues, while some are
occasionally obtained with a white horse-shoe mark, and a particularly dark
variety has even been denominated _Perdix montana_. Hybrids are recorded
with the Red-Legged Partridge and Red Grouse, but such are quite
exceptional. Unknown in Shetland, the Partridge has been introduced with
moderate success into the Outer Hebrides and Orkneys; but in the Highlands
of Scotland the character of the country is often unsuitable, nor is the
bird very plentiful in Ireland. From Scandinavia it occurs southward to the
Douro valley and Naples, though rarer in Northern Europe, and choosing
higher ground than the Red-legged species in the south; eastward it reaches
through Asia Minor and Persia as far as the Altai Mountains. Pairing even
in February, it does not nest until about April, the numbers of individuals
reared being naturally much affected by subsequent excess of wet or
drought. The better the cultivation the larger the stock, though grassy
heaths, gorse-coverts, tangled hedge-rows and thickets also provide
excellent harbour. Very rarely do Partridges desert the open for woods, or
perch in trees, though during the hot hours they shelter in fields of
turnips, clover, and so forth, emerging at other times to feed on the
grain, seeds, leaves, and insects found among short vegetation or stubble.
Cover is naturally eschewed when wet. They often trust to their powers of
foot for escape, or crouch motionless upon soil that matches their plumage,
while the whirring noise with which they rise is familiar to all, as is
their heavy rapid {225}flight at starting, and their easy gliding motion
afterwards. The well-known crowing note is most commonly heard towards
evening. The nest, a circular cavity lined with grass, is placed among
short herbage, often near a road, the drab-coloured–or, exceptionally,
bluish–eggs varying from nine to twenty or more in number. Both parents
tend the young and employ many devices to mislead an intruder; at night the
family parties roost upon the ground, and later in the year pack into
larger coveys. The methods of sportsmen and poachers cannot be discussed at
length in our limited space, but the general adoption of driving, instead
of shooting over dogs–due to improved systems of farming–should not be left
unnoticed.
_P. daürica_ (_barbata_), of Asia east of the Altai and Tian-shan Ranges,
exhibits lanceolate feathers on the sides of the throat, like _Coturnix
japonica_, and a black "horse-shoe" mark on the golden-buff breast; the
latter part in _P. hodgsoniae_, of South Tibet and the extreme north of
India, being white with wide bars and a large basal patch of black; _P.
sifanica_ of North-West China and North Tibet lacks the black patch, and
has less black on the sides of the head and throat. The two last-named
birds reach the snow-line at about eighteen thousand feet; the first of
them at least having a nest and eggs like the Common Partridge. _Rhizothera
longirostris_, of the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, and Sumatra, has long sharp
curved beak and powerful whitish metatarsi, provided with a pair of stout
spurs in each sex. The upper plumage is rich brown with black and buff
markings; a grey shade pervades the neck and lower back, and chestnut tints
the cheeks, throat, and wings; the under parts are grey, merging
posteriorly into buff. The hen has a chestnut fore-neck, and is less grey
above. _R. dulitensis_ of Borneo is similar.
The genus _Pternistes_ contains the naked-throated Ethiopian Francolins.
_P. nudicollis_ of South Africa is brown above with black shaft-stripes,
the mantle being greyer, the superciliary stripes and face black, the sides
of the neck and lower parts black with white streaks. The female has a grey
and rufous chest, the male a pair of sharp spurs. The bare orbits and
throat are crimson, the bill and feet orange-red. _P. humboldti_ of East
Africa and _P. afer_ (_rubricollis_) of western South Africa resemble the
above, but have two pairs of spurs. _P. cranchi_ differs in having the
neck, mantle, and under surface {226}mottled with black and white, the
breast and abdomen shewing chestnut markings; in the similar _P. boehmi_
the naked throat is yellow. These two species occur west and east of Lake
Tanganyika respectively; the female being less black and white above and
less chestnut below in the former, while the sexes are alike in the latter.
_P. swainsoni_ of South Africa is distinguishable by its rusty abdomen with
black and chestnut blotches, the latter colour being absent in the hen; _P.
rufipictus_ of East Equatorial Africa has white neck-feathers, margined
with brown and black. _P. leucoscepus_ of North-East and the darker _P.
infuscatus_ of East Africa exhibit broken stripes of brown and white down
the whole body, with yellowish-red orbits and throat; the sexes are alike
save for the spurs in the male. In many districts the members of this
genus, as well as the Francolins proper, closely akin to them in appearance
and habits, are denominated "Pheasants." They haunt grassy places and
brushwood, often on hills near water; the coveys feeding in the open on
bulbs, seeds, berries, and insects, and roosting upon trees, preferably
those that are leafless. Flying little, but running at a great pace, they
utter harsh notes in the morning and evening, and lay six or more creamy or
pinkish eggs, frequently with chalky spots, in a grass-lined cavity
sheltered by coarse herbage.
_Francolinus_, inclusive of _Ortygornis_, _Scleroptila_, _Chaetopus_, and
_Clamator_ of some writers, contains forty or more species, ranging over
the Ethiopian Region, and from Arabia, Cyprus, and Asia Minor to Persia,
India, and South China. The coloration is rich and varied, and the sexes
are commonly alike, while hybrids undoubtedly occur. Apart from a special
study, a general idea is given by the following descriptions. _F.
vulgaris_, the Black Partridge, ranging from Cyprus, Palestine, and Asia
Minor to Assam, formerly occurred in Spain, Italy, Sicily, Greece, several
of the Mediterranean Islands, and North Africa.[162] It has the whole
plumage blackish, with buff markings on the crown, wings, and mantle, white
ocelli on the upper back and flanks, white barring on the lower back and
tail, a white patch below the eye, and chestnut collar and under
tail-coverts. The bill is black, the feet are orange with a small blunt
spur. The collar of the brownish female is confined to the nape, and the
throat is white. In _F. levaillanti_ of South Africa, the "Redwing" of
English {227}colonists, both sexes have the crown brown, edged with black
and white, which continues down the nape and widens at its base; a black
and white band outlines the throat and forms a patch below it, while the
rest of the head is rufous. The upper parts are black, brown, and buff,
with pale chestnut remiges; the under parts are of the last colour, varied
with buff and black, and barred with brown on the flanks. Spurs are
occasionally wanting. _F. adspersus_ of western South Africa is very
distinct, both male and female being brown above, with fine black and grey
mottlings and black lores; the head, neck, and lower surface are white,
with narrow black bars. The spurs are long and sharp. _F. albigularis_ of
West Africa is grey-brown, with rusty crown, white throat, buff under
parts, and bright bay patches on the wing-coverts, the upper back and neck
exhibiting white streaks edged with black. The lower back is blotched with
black, the spurs are moderate.
Of some five Asiatic species, _F. sinensis_–introduced into Madagascar,
Mauritius, and Réunion–alone reaches eastward of Assam to China; whereas
_F. pondicerianus_ has been imported into Rodriguez and the Amirante
Islands.
Francolins are found in family parties rather than coveys, and prefer
localities near water, though these may consist of rushy swamps, cultivated
lands, stony slopes, or maritime plains. Dry situations are, however,
favoured, a sufficiency of cover being the chief requisite, and an altitude
of six thousand feet being occasionally attained. Some forms roost upon the
ground and apparently never perch, others–especially in South Africa–resort
habitually to trees at night or when disturbed; but probably the style of
country and the amount of persecution account for this difference, while
the decrease of the commoner species in certain parts emphasises the fact
that they are an easy prey to gunners and other foes. These birds run with
great rapidity, and are extremely difficult to flush, still more so for a
second time; when forced to rise they do so with a whirring noise, and fly
off heavily but swiftly, to pitch again as soon as possible. Reposing in
the shade during the hot hours, they feed in the morning and evening, at
which times the loud, shrill cry of three bell-like notes, or the
"hysterical laugh," may be heard in all directions. The diet consists of
insects, shoots of plants, berries, seeds, and bulbs, the powerful bill
being used for digging. The well-concealed nest resembles that of a
Partridge, the six to fourteen eggs, found in {228}autumn as well as
spring,[163] are olive-brown or buff, occasionally with small brown spots
or a few white shell-markings.
_Ammoperdix bonhami_ of South-West Asia is a desert form of an isabelline
colour, with blue-grey crown and throat, black forehead and superciliary
stripes, white lores and ear-coverts, a few black markings near the rump,
chestnut hues on the tail and flanks, and longitudinal black bars on the
latter. _A. heyi_, ranging from Nubia to the Jordan Valley and the Persian
Gulf, has no black on the head, the frontal band being white, and the
cheeks and mid-throat chestnut. The rufous and buff females of the two
species are indistinguishable. They inhabit wastes and stony ravines up to
four thousand feet, in pairs or small coveys; crouching, to avoid
detection, on the ground, which matches their colour; flying like Quails;
and uttering a reiterated double whistle. The eight to twelve eggs, of a
plain drab tint, are deposited among stones or under tussocks, with hardly
any nest.
_Caccabis rufa_, the Red-legged or French Partridge, introduced into
England from France, and inhabiting Western Europe generally from Belgium
and Switzerland to the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Elba, and South Italy,
occurs in the Atlantic Islands, but not in Africa. The crown is grey, a
black band outlines the throat and reaches past the eyes to the forehead,
the upper parts are reddish-grey or brownish, and the tail is partly
chestnut. The abdomen is bright buff, the chest grey with black margins to
the feathers; chestnut, white, and black stripes adorn the flanks; the
bill, feet, and orbits are red. The male is only distinguishable by having
rudimentary spurs. _C. saxatilis_, the Greek Partridge, has the chest plain
and the flanks without white. It inhabits the Alps, Apennines, Carpathians,
Balkans, and Sicilian hills; the eastern race, _C. chukar_, ranging from
the Ionian Islands to Aden, Persia, Mongolia, and China, and being
naturalized in St. Helena. _C. magna_ of Tibet shews a double gorget of
black and reddish. _C. petrosa_, the Barbary Partridge, has a chestnut
crown and collar, with white spots on the latter; it occupies North-West
Africa, Sardinia, several of the Canary Islands, and Gibraltar. _C. spatzi_
of South Tunis differs slightly. _C. melanocephala_ of South-West Arabia
has a black crown, bluish upper parts, flanks marked with black and white,
{229}and a black mark down the fore-neck. The members of this genus
frequent cultivated country, grassy desert-hills, and scrub-covered ground,
up to sixteen thousand feet; they are unsuspicious in quiet parts, but such
is not the case in England. They run and fly far and fast, but are
exceptionally hard to flush, trusting almost entirely to their feet, and
occasionally when hard pressed resorting to trees. The loud note may be
syllabled chuk-chuk-chukar-chukar; the food consists of leaves, fruits,
seeds and insects; the nest is a scantily-lined excavation, containing from
seven to fourteen yellowish-white eggs with reddish specks or blotches. The
pugnacious males are used by the Cypriots to attract their wild kindred;
but in Britain they have been said–probably in error–to drive away the
Common Partridge.
_Tetraogallus tibetanus_, the Tibetan "Snow-Cock" or "Snow-Pheasant," is
dark grey above, with buff markings towards the wings and rump, and black
vermiculations; the under parts are white, with a grey pectoral band and
black streaks posteriorly. There is a yellowish naked patch behind the eye,
the bill is orange, and the feet are red. The sexes are similarly coloured,
but the male has a pair of strong blunt spurs. The range extends from East
Turkestan to West China, where _T. henrici_ occurs, with a grey chest. _T.
himalayensis_, found from the Himalayas to the Hindu Kush and the Altai
Mountains, has the pectoral band and a patch on each side of the head and
nape chestnut, the chest white with black bars, the orbits yellow, the bill
dusky, and the feet orange. _T. caspius_, extending from the Taurus to
Transcaspia and South Persia, has the upper breast grey with black spots,
and lacks the chestnut on the head; _T. caucasicus_ of the Caucasus has the
occiput and nape rufous, and the chest black and buff; _T. altaicus_ of the
Altai range has the last spotted with white, but no white bases to the
secondaries as in the two preceding forms. These large active birds haunt
stony hill-sides above the forest-zone and near the snow-line, being
gregarious, yet keeping in pairs; they are wild and wary, fly straight and
swiftly, utter shrill whistles or cackling notes, and feed upon insects,
buds, roots, grass, moss, and fern. From six to nine yellowish or olive
eggs with reddish or purplish spots, generally one-third larger than those
of the Capercaillie, are laid in a hollow in the soil, sheltered by a stone
or overhanging tuft.
_Tetraophasis obscurus_ of East Tibet is in both sexes {230}brownish-grey
above, with blackish markings anteriorly, olive tints on the mantle, and
buff on the wings; the throat and some blotches on the flanks are chestnut,
the breast is grey with black spots, the abdomen grey and buff, the tail
mainly black and white. The male has two stout spurs. _T. széchenyii_ of
Central Tibet has the throat fawn-coloured, and the whole of the under
parts blotched with chestnut. The habits are apparently somewhat similar to
those of the last genus. _Lerwa nivicola_, the "Snow-Partridge," ranging
from the Himalayas to Western China, has black upper parts with white
cross-bars, which become rufous buff on the mantle and wings; the under
surface is chestnut, with black and white markings only shewing towards the
belly. A pair of spurs distinguishes the cock from the hen. This species
inhabits broken grassy or heathery sides of mountains in the midst of snow,
up to an altitude of at least fourteen thousand feet; it is tamer than the
Snow-Pheasant, flies equally well, and nestles under jutting rocks. The
coveys feed on moss, seeds, and insects, and utter a short double
Grouse-like note or a harsh whistle.
Sub-fam. 4. _Odontophorinae_,[164]–The "American Partridges," are
Quail-like birds, rarely attaining the size of a Red Grouse, and readily
distinguished from their kin by the doubly-toothed mandible and the lack of
spurs. The sexes are alike, if not otherwise stated.
Of some four species of _Dendrortyx_, ranging from South Mexico to Costa
Rica, _D. macrurus_, of the former country, has a black head and throat,
with a long white streak above and below each eye, and a rufous tip to the
short, full occipital crest. The neck and back are chestnut and grey; the
rump, wings, and tail are browner with black mottlings; the breast is
greyish with rufous streaks. The bill, feet, and naked orbits are
coral-red. _Callipepla squamata_, of the South-Western United States and
Mexico, has a grey-brown head, with white-tipped crest and buff throat; the
wings, rump, and tail are brownish-grey with white inner margins to some of
the scapulars and secondaries; the mid-breast and belly are fawn-coloured.
The remaining plumage is grey, with black margins to the feathers which
cause a scaly appearance, and shews dusky triangular spots beneath.
_Oreortyx pictus_ of the Western United States possesses two very long
black occipital plumes; olive-brown upper parts with white edges to the
scapulars and outer secondaries; slaty head, neck, {231}and lower surface,
with chestnut throat and abdomen, of which the former is laterally margined
with white; a white band from the chin to the lores; and chestnut flanks,
barred with black and white. _Lophortyx californicus_, of the same
countries, has the head and crest of two club-shaped feathers black, a
yellow forehead, olive-grey upper parts, a black throat outlined with
white, buff mid-breast, and chestnut belly, each feather of the last two
being edged with black. A white band connects the eyes and continues behind
them, while white streaks grace the sides and flanks. The female lacks the
black and white pattern on the head, and has whitish lower parts with
yellow-brown throat. Two other species extend the range to Mexico,
_Philortyx fasciatus_ of South Mexico has an olive-brown upper surface,
washed with rufous on the crown and the greyer neck and mantle, and barred
or blotched with black and buff on the lower back, wings, and tail; the
blackish crest is tipped with red; the throat and lower parts are white,
with a few median spots and pronounced black bars on the chest, sides, and
flanks, where the feathers have rusty margins. _Eupsychortyx cristatus_ of
Curaçao and Aruba has half a dozen congeners, ranging through Central and
northern South America. It has a buff crest, crown, and throat; black and
white nape and cheeks; reddish-grey upper parts mottled and blotched with
black and buff; and rufous lower surface, barred with black, and spotted on
the chest, sides, and flanks with white. In the female the black on the
head is replaced by buff. _Ortyx virginianus_ of the Eastern United States
is rufous and grey above with black blotches, the crown is blackish, the
sides of the head are transversely striped with black and white, the white
throat is margined with black, the lower parts are reddish-white with black
chevrons. The hen-bird has a buff throat, and shews little black on the
cheeks. This genus contains eight members, often called Colins, which range
as far south as Mexico and Cuba. The three species of _Cyrtonyx_ extend
from the Southern United States to Guatemala; they all have full crests,
highly-developed wing-coverts, and very short, soft tails. The sides of the
head and neck exhibit a peculiar black and white pattern, while those of
the body are grey, ocellated with white or varied with chestnut. The
females lack the pattern on the head. As an example, _C. montezumae_ is
rufous above, barred with black, and streaked with buff and white; the
breast being chiefly {232}chestnut and the abdomen black. _Dactylortyx
thoracicus_ of Central America has brown upper parts, with black blotches
and rufous and buff mottlings; the superciliary stripes, cheeks, and throat
are chestnut, with a black patch on each side of the last; the under
surface is reddish-grey with white shaft-stripes. In the hen the chestnut
is replaced by whitish. The crest is not so full as in _Odontophorus_, of
which some fourteen species extend from South Mexico to Bolivia and South
Brazil. _O. guianensis_, ranging from Panama to Bolivia and Amazonia, has
the head and throat mainly chestnut, the neck and mantle grey, the lower
back reddish-brown–all except the grey portions being marked with buff and
black; the mid-throat is grey, the under parts orange-brown, with dusky
barring on the chest and sides. The naked orbits are reddish; the bill is
black, the feet are rather lighter, as in the Sub-family generally.
_Rhynchortyx spodiostethus_ of Veragua and Panama has the crown brown, the
rest of the head chiefly rusty-red, the mantle grey and brown, the lower
back buff relieved by grey and black, the wings more chestnut, the lower
parts dark grey, with white and buff centres to the throat and breast
respectively, and black-barred flanks. _R. cinctus_ of Veragua has a rufous
chest and olive-brown cheeks.
As an instance of the habits we may take _Ortyx virginianus_, called
Bob-white from the shrill triple whistle of the male, which resembles
"Ah-bob-white." It is a wary denizen of open woods and pastures, found in
coveys, and roosting on the ground, though habitually taking refuge in
trees, where it crouches upon the branches. It runs very swiftly, but
rises, when hard pressed, with a whirring noise to fly for a short
distance. The food consists of succulent shoots, seeds, berries, acorns,
beech-nuts, and insects; the nest is imbedded in grass or placed at the
foot of a tree, and is made of a little herbage, which may even arch over
it; the white or drab eggs number from nine to eighteen. The male is said
to assist in incubation, two broods being occasionally reared in a season.
The female utters a clucking sound, and will feign lameness when with her
brood.
Other forms prefer pine-forests, rocky ground, or dry sandy flats overgrown
with cactus and sage-brush; their cries being in some cases louder or more
guttural, while the eggs may be blotched or spotted with reddish-brown.
Nests have even been recorded low down in trees. _Ortyx virginianus_ has
been {233}introduced into the West Indies and the Old World, though
unsuccessfully in the latter; _Lophortyx californicus_ into Europe, the
Sandwich Islands, and New Zealand, in the last two of which it is firmly
established. In America, moreover, some species seem to have lately
extended their range. Hybrids are occasionally found.
Sub-fam. 5. _Tetraoninae._–_Bonasa umbellus_, the Ruffed Grouse, which
inhabits the greater part of North America, is remarkable for the frills of
black or chestnut feathers surmounting a bare space on the sides of the
neck, and for the partially naked metatarsi. Both sexes are rufous or
greyish above, with buff and black markings, a short blackish crest, and a
black subterminal tail-bar; the under parts being buff, relieved by brown
and white. Great variation, however, is shown, and sub-species may be
easily differentiated. When undisturbed, the "Pheasant" or "Partridge," as
it is variously called by local sportsmen, is tame, and prefers undulating
wooded country in the neighbourhood of cultivation, though it is also found
in proximity to the hills. The habits resemble those of the following
species, but the food is somewhat more varied, and includes beech-nuts,
chestnuts, and acorns. In spring the cock often struts upon some log, and
drums after the manner of other American grouse; but the habit is not
confined to that season, nor is the sound produced by inflated neck-sacs,
but by the wings. The absence of the hens, moreover, suggests that the
performance is not amatory. From eight to fourteen or more eggs are laid,
of a whitish or buff colour, with or without round reddish spots. _B.
sylvestris_, the Hazel Grouse–the Gelinotte of the French–is a smaller and
darker bird, with white markings on the wings, and a black throat
surrounded by a white line, which reaches to the forehead. There is no
ruff, and the female differs from the male in her whitish throat. It
inhabits hill-forests in Europe and Asia up to three thousand feet,
extending southward to Northern Spain, North Italy, Transylvania, China,
and Japan, but not occurring in Britain. The food consists of shoots and
buds of birch and hazel, seeds, berries, and other fruit, worms, insects,
and their larvae. The flight is noisy, but not protracted, the birds
resorting to trees and squatting on the branches. The usual note is a
melancholy whistle, followed by a chirping sound. The slight nest contains
from six to fifteen yellowish eggs, spotted with a little rufous, which are
deposited early in spring, as is commonly the case in the Family. _B.
{234}griseiventris_ and _B. severtzovi_ are the representative forms in the
Government of Perm in Russia, and the districts from Koko-Nor to South
Mongolia respectively. The Old World species, sometimes denominated
_Tetrastes_, are monogamous, and do not "drum."
Different races of _Pedioecetes phasianellus_, the well-known Prairie
Chicken, occupy America as far southwards as North California, New Mexico,
Wisconsin, and Illinois. Both male and female shew black, red-brown, and
yellowish tints above, with white streaks on the scapulars and spots on the
wings, the lower surface being white with dusky markings. The short tail,
with two elongated, but truncated median rectrices, gives it the name of
Sharp-tailed Grouse. This shy denizen of the woods and prairies extends
almost to the Arctic barren grounds in spring, that season being remarkable
for the conduct of both sexes, which meet to hold regular dances on
elevated spots, aptly compared to the hills of Ruffs. No doubt the cocks
are the chief performers, but they are said to be monogamous, though their
actions resemble those of their polygamous allies. The flight is strong and
rapid, with alternate periods of flapping and sailing; the note is a triple
whistle or a "cack-cack-cack." The food includes shoots of plants, grass,
berries, and insects, the last-named being the chief diet of the young, as
in the case of many other American Grouse. About fourteen eggs are
deposited in a cavity scraped amidst rank herbage, and but slightly lined;
their colour is brownish with darker spots, or occasionally creamy with
marks of red.
_Centrocercus urophasianus_, the Sage-Cock of the Western United States and
the adjoining portions of British America, has the upper parts mottled with
black, grey-brown, rufous, and buff, the lower parts black, relieved by a
white chest. The tail is long and wedge-shaped, with attenuated feathers;
the sides of the neck and lower throat possess stiff spiny plumage, and the
former bare orange air-sacs, as in the species next to be mentioned. The
female lacks the black spots on the white throat. This bird, the largest of
the New World Tetraoninae, is generally unsuspicious, and runs ahead of the
traveller uttering cackling or clucking notes; when hard pressed it rises
with fluttering action, and flies off rapidly to a considerable distance.
The food consists chiefly of "sage-brush" (_Artemisia tridentata_), but
other leaves and flowers, seeds, berries, grain, and insects vary the fare.
The habits at the mating-time resemble those of _Dendragapus_ and
{235}_Tympanuchus_, while the eggs, from seven to seventeen in number, may
be found placed in an excavation of the bare soil, or resting on a slight
lining; they are drab or olive in colour, with roundish brown spots. What
seems to be the ground colour is easily rubbed off before incubation
commences, a fact noticeable in other Galline birds and Plovers. The
Sage-Grouse reaches a considerable elevation, as does the sage-brush, which
gives its name to the bird.
_Tympanuchus americanus_, the Prairie-hen, found in the districts drained
by the Mississippi and its confluents, and thence northwards to Ontario, is
brown above, barred with buff and black, and chiefly paler brown below,
marked with white. The small crest is tipped with white, and a tuft of
long, stiff, black feathers covers the inflatable yellow air-sacs on the
sides of the neck, the sacs being absent and the tufts shorter in females.
In spring parties assemble after daybreak on dry knolls, and conduct their
love affairs after the fashion of the Dusky Grouse (p. 236), a booming
noise being audible from afar, and the skin of the neck being expanded
below the erected tufts. The cocks are most pugnacious when the
pairing-time is nearly over. Shoots of plants, berries, grain, acorns, and
insects constitute the food. The flight is powerful and rapid, but
individuals often run and squat. For a Grouse the nest is considerable; and
from eleven to fourteen, or even twenty, creamy or olive-coloured eggs are
deposited, with very small reddish-brown spots. _T. cupido_, the Heath-Hen
of the eastern United States, now only found on the island of Martha's
Vineyard, off Massachusetts, has smaller neck-tufts of pointed feathers,
and more conspicuous whitish marks on the scapulars. _T. pallidicinctus_,
the Lesser Prairie-Hen, ranging from Texas to Kansas, is barred with brown,
margined on each side with black.
_Dendragapus obscurus_, the Dusky, Blue, or Pine-Grouse of the Rocky
Mountain districts, has black upper parts mottled with grey and a little
brown, and pure grey under surface; the female having a considerable
admixture of buff, and the male possessing air-sacs like those of
_Tympanuchus_. A darker race, _D. fuliginosus_, extends the range to Sitka
and California. Another northern form, which lacks the broad grey
tail-band, is termed _D. richardsoni_. These birds frequent wooded ravines
up to nine thousand feet, preferring the neighbourhood of water, and
feeding as do their allies. The characteristic booming noise, common to
this species and others, may be heard throughout the day in spring, the
male {236}choosing some horizontal bough or convenient spot of ground
whereon to display himself with drooping wings, expanded tail, and inflated
air-sacs. Rarely can an observer gain a view, so misleading is the
ventriloquistic effect of the sound. The nest, commonly placed beneath a
branch or near a tussock, is a mere depression in the soil lined with
herbage, leaves, or fir-needles. The eight to twelve eggs are creamy-buff,
with round brown dots.
_Canachites_ (_Canace_) _canadensis_, the Canada Grouse or
"Spruce-Partridge," found from Alaska and British America to the
north-eastern United States, is black, with lead-coloured bars above, and a
white pectoral band below, the tail having a chestnut tip, which is wanting
in the browner _C. franklini_ of the north-western Rocky Mountains. In the
female the grey is chiefly replaced by orange. It is a tame species, and
flies but a short distance before alighting on some tree. The food consists
of "spruce" buds and larch needles, with berries of _Vaccinium_ (bilberry,
cranberry, etc.), _Empetrum_ (crowberry), and so forth. It is not
polygamous; but a most curious account of the cock's habits of showing off
and drumming is given by Bendire.[165] The hen constructs a nest of dry
moss, leaves, and twigs upon the ground, under shelter of some overhanging
bough, and lays from eight to eighteen reddish-buff eggs with brown spots.
_Falcipennis hartlaubi_, a very similar species, distinguished by slender
sickle-shaped outer primaries, occurs in North-East Siberia, Kamtschatka,
and Saghalien.
_Tetrao urogallus_, the Capercaillie, apparently not uncommon in Scotland
until 1770, and exterminated in Ireland about the same date, was
reintroduced at Taymouth Park, Perthshire, in 1838, and is now fairly
plentiful in Central North Britain. Failure has attended similar attempts
in Ireland. The discoveries of bones in Teesdale and near Torquay shew that
this bird's range once extended to Yorkshire and Devonshire, while similar
finds have been made in Aquitaine and Denmark. At the present day it
inhabits sub-alpine pine-forests from Scandinavia, the Pyrenees, North
Italy, and Greece to Lake Baikal and the Altai Mountains, being represented
in the Urals by a sub-species, _T. uralensis_. The male is almost entirely
blackish-grey above, with somewhat darker tail, and black below with
greenish chest. The female is smaller, and is mottled with brown, buff,
black, and white, merging into rufous on the breast, which is barred with
black. A variable {237}amount of white occurs beneath in both sexes. The
brown hair-like feathers on the legs are longest in winter, a fact true
also in the Ptarmigan and elsewhere. A cross between the hen Capercaillie
and the Black-Cock is known in North Europe as the Rackelhahn (_T.
medius_).[166] The "lek" or "spel," as the love-performance is called, has
been described in detail by many authors;[167] it takes place in spring,
and occasionally in autumn, when the excited male struts with drooping
wings and erect outspread tail before the assembled females, uttering
curious noisy cries, to which they reply with softer plaintive notes. He is
said to be deaf during the "play." At times he takes up a position on some
lofty bough with the evident intention of challenging his rivals, who
quickly respond to the provocation; ere long they join in combat upon the
ground, leaping and rushing upon one another in their blind rage, and using
bills, wings, and claws as weapons of offence. The flight of the
Capercaillie is heavy though strong. The food consists chiefly of young
pine-shoots, which are apt to give the flesh a flavour of turpentine, but
includes berries, insects, and worms. About a dozen yellowish-white eggs,
freckled with dull orange, are deposited in a hole scraped for the purpose
near the foot of a tree, a slight lining being sometimes added. _T.
parvirostris_ (_urogalloïdes_) of North-East Siberia, with comparatively
slender bill and purplish-green head, and _T. kamtschaticus_ of
Kamtschatka, are distinguished by their white-tipped scapulars.
_Lyrurus tetrix_, the Black Grouse, called according to the sex Black Cock
or Grey Hen, ranges over Europe north of the Pyrenees and Apennines, as
well as through Northern Asia to the Tian-Shan Mountains and Pekin. It
inhabits the wilder moorlands of the north and west of England, being much
less plentiful in the Midlands, and very rare in the east. It has, however,
been introduced into Norfolk, and unsuccessfully into Ireland, while it has
been restored to Surrey, Sussex, and Berks, and still occurs in Wilts,
Dorset, Hants, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall. In Scotland it frequents most
suitable districts, but does not reach Orkney, Shetland, or the Outer
Hebrides. The male, remarkable for his lyrate tail with its outwardly
curved rectrices, is black with steel-blue reflexions, exhibiting a little
brown in parts, {238}a white bar on the wing, and white under tail-coverts.
The female is rufous and buff, barred and spotted with black, and shewing
but little white. This bird is usually found on broken ground or in open
woodlands, where it conceals itself among long heath, bracken, or grass.
The polygamous cocks meet at dawn in spring to fight for the hens, parading
before them in great excitement with depressed outspread tails, while
uttering a drumming or cooing noise. At other times the call-note is loud
and clear. The flight is powerful but heavy; the food includes berries,
seeds, grain, shoots, buds, and insects. The nest is merely a
scantily-lined hollow, situated at the foot of a tree, or in heather and
the like, often near plantations. The six to ten eggs have a yellowish
ground-colour, with scattered orange-brown blotches, the markings being
larger than in the Capercaillie. In some winters these Grouse allow
themselves to be snowed up, as occasionally do other species. _L.
mlokosiewiczi_ of the Caucasus has the rectrices only slightly curved, and
black under tail-coverts. Hybrids between the Black Cock and the Willow
Grouse are called Riporre in Scandinavia.
_Lagopus scoticus_, the Red Grouse or Muirfowl, the only bird entirely
confined to our islands, differs from its congeners in never becoming white
in winter. It varies considerably in coloration,[168] but is usually
considered a local form of the Willow Grouse (_L. albus_) of the north of
Europe, Asia, and America. The male in both summer and winter is more or
less chestnut-brown above, with black markings and a reddish head; the
lower parts are similar, but are usually spotted with white. In autumn the
brown of the upper parts becomes buff, and the lower surface is barred with
buff and black. Mr. Ogilvie Grant[169] recognises three types of plumage in
the male, a red form with no white spots, from Ireland and Western
Scotland; a blackish variety comparatively rarely found; and another
largely spotted with white below or even above. Intermediate specimens
constitute the bulk of our birds. The female exhibits, moreover, a
buff-spotted and a buff-barred form; but in summer she is typically black
above with concentric buff markings, and buff below with black bars. Her
autumn plumage, which continues throughout the winter, is black, spotted
with buff and barred with rufous.
{239}[Illustration: FIG. 48.–Red Grouse. _Lagopus scoticus._ × ¼.]
Little need be said of the habits of this well-known species, nor will
space allow of a description of the methods of killing it by driving and so
forth; but it may be observed that it utters a clear ringing note, us well
as the familiar cok-cok-cok, and feeds upon grain and tender shoots of ling
(_Calluna_) and heather (_Erica_), besides other plants. The nest of moss,
grass, and the like is placed amidst heather, and contains from six to ten,
or even more, yellowish-white eggs, thickly blotched and spotted with fine
red-brown, purplish, or black. In England the Red Grouse is found as far
south as Derbyshire and Shropshire, in Wales to Glamorgan; while
unsuccessful attempts have been made to introduce it into Surrey and
elsewhere. In Ireland it is rather thinly distributed, but in Scotland it
reaches the Orkneys, and an occasional brood has been known to be reared in
Shetland, where a few pairs were turned down between 1858 and 1883. It has
also been acclimatized in Southern Sweden. _Lagopus albus_, the Willow
Grouse of Northern Europe, Asia, and America, termed the "Dal-riporre" in
Scandinavia, is completely white in winter, except for the lateral
rectrices, which are chiefly black; in summer it resembles the Red Grouse,
but is distinguished by the white wing-quills. The female is smaller. The
habits {240}are similar to those of the last-named, but a preference is
shewn for willow- and birch-scrub; shoots of these trees or of _Vaccinium_,
with various moorland berries, furnishing the food. A performance recalling
the "lek" of the Capercaillie is said to be given by the male in spring, a
fact also true of the succeeding species.[170] _L. mutus_, the Ptarmigan or
Fjeld-riporre, is in summer blackish-brown with grey and rufous markings,
the median tail-feathers, abdomen, and most of the wings being white. The
back becomes grey in autumn. The female is reddish-buff, barred with black.
In winter both sexes are white, with black and white rectrices, and in the
male with black lores. Nearly all the so-called Ptarmigan in English
poulterers' shops are Willow Grouse. The haunts are on the higher parts of
mountain-ranges, where stony ground abounds, but somewhat lower altitudes
are sought after the breeding season. The food consists of shoots and
berries; the cry is croaking, and best heard in misty weather. From five to
ten eggs, with blacker markings than those of Red Grouse, are deposited in
a hole scraped in the earth, with little or no lining, the nest being
commonly quite exposed, though equally often under shelter of a boulder.
Ptarmigan are decidedly difficult to see among the similarly-coloured
stones. In Scotland they occur on most of the higher hills from Arran
northwards, though no longer in Dumfries and Galloway; while abroad they
occupy Northern Europe, with the Pyrenees and the Alps, and possibly
Northern Asia. In the lighter _L. rupestris_ the adult male never has a
black breast or a grey back in autumn. This form occurs in North Asia and
North America, with Greenland, Iceland, and Japan, many local races having
been described as distinct species or sub-species; while the larger _L.
hyperboreus_ (_hemileucurus_), with a white base to the tail, inhabits
Spitsbergen; and _L. leucurus_, with entirely white rectrices–the smallest
member of the genus–ranges along the Rocky Mountains from British Columbia
to New Mexico.
Of fossil forms _Coturnix_ and _Palaeortyx_ occur in the Upper Eocene of
the Paris Basin, _Taoperdix_ in the calcareous deposits of Languedoc of the
same age; _Palaeortyx_ is again found with three species of _Palaeoperdix_,
in the Middle Miocene of France, while _Phasianus_ is not only recorded
from {241}this formation, but from the Upper Miocene of Oeningen and the
Pliocene of Attica, in the latter of which _Gallus_ accompanies it.
_Meleagris_ has been discovered in the Miocene of Colorado, and the
Post-pliocene of New Jersey; _Gallus_ in the Pliocene of France,
_Palaeotetrix_ and _Pedioecetes_ in that of Oregon; and, finally, bones of
_Lagopus_ have been brought to light in the French Plistocene, and those of
_Tetrao urogallus_ at Kent's Hole near Torquay and in the caves of Teesdale
in England.
Fam. VII. OPISTHOCOMIDAE.–The curious and highly specialized Hoatzin
(_Opisthocomus cristatus_) has been the subject of much discussion among
systematists, as the outcome of which it is necessary to adopt for it a
special Sub-Order OPISTHOCOMI. Buffon classed it with the Curassows, P. L.
S. Müller and Gmelin placed it in the Linnean genus _Phasianus_; but
Illiger recognised a genus _Opisthocomus_, while Huxley and Garrod fully
admitted its claim to higher rank than that of a Family. The habits are to
some extent Ralline, and certain points of structure indicate a
considerable affinity to the _Cuculi_.
The sternum is utterly unlike that of any other species, the anterior
portion of the keel being aborted, and the posterior correlated with a
flattened area of thick naked skin, on which the bird mainly rests. These
modifications are no doubt connected with the extraordinarily large crop,
which is supported by the furcula and the fore-part of the breast-bone,
being received in a cavity of the pectoral muscles; the whole organ is
decidedly muscular, and contains two divisions with a partial constriction
between them. The body is long and thin, the bill is strong with basal
serrations on the maxilla; bristles surround the gape, and the eye-lids
have distinct lashes–a rare fact among birds. The reticulated metatarsi are
fairly stout; the toes are long; the hallux being unusually developed and
the claws slightly curved. The short rounded wings have ten primaries and
nine secondaries. The nearly even tail is elongated, with ten stiff
feathers. The plumage in both sexes is olive above with white markings, and
dull rufous below; the long loose crest and the tip of the tail are
yellowish, and a patch of bare bluish-black skin surrounds the eyes. The
tongue is sagittate, the furcula is Y-shaped and ossifies anteriorly with
the coracoids, an aftershaft is present, the down of the adults is sparing,
while a small amount–of a reddish-brown colour–is observable in the
newly-hatched {242}young. The syrinx has one pair of muscles inserted on
the distal end of the trachea.
The Hoatzin or "Anna," which is about the size of a Pigeon, ranges from
Colombia to the Lower Amazons and Bolivia, where it haunts the sides of
lagoons, creeks, and rivers covered with a thick growth of low trees or
bushes, which project over the stream or the mud left bare by the tide. In
these tangled solitudes it skulks during the heat of the day, while at
other times it may be observed squatting upon the branches, mainly
supported on the patch of hardened skin already mentioned. When disturbed
the bird flies off awkwardly for some forty yards with a violent flapping
motion, or progresses by leaps from bough to bough, erecting its crest and
expanding its wings and tail. The note is sharp and shrill, and has been
described as a hissing screech. The food consists of leaves and fruit of
the prickly _Drepanocarpus lunulatus_, of the Aroid _Montrichardia
arborescens_, of _Avicennia nitida_, and of a species of _Psidium_. The
conspicuous nest, placed on low trees or shrubs, is a loose platform of
spiny twigs and sticks with a softer lining, which contains from three to
five yellowish-white eggs of a Rail-like appearance, spotted with
reddish-brown and lilac. The young, which can see and run as soon as they
are hatched, have a claw on both index and pollex, by means of which they
creep about the thickets and hook themselves over the branches, assisted by
the bill and feet. They can also swim and dive. A strong musky odour is
given off by the adults, whence they are termed "Stinking Pheasants" in
Guiana. The male has been asserted to be polygamous.
[Illustration: FIG. 49.–Hoatzin.
_Opisthocomus cristatus._ × ⅕.]
{243}ORDER X. GRUIFORMES.
The Gruiformes, which lie between the Galliformes and the Charadriiformes,
compose a somewhat heterogeneous Order, which includes forms so different
as the _Rallidae_ (Rails), _Gruidae_ (Cranes), _Aramidae_ (Limpkins),
_Psophiidae_ (Trumpeters), _Cariamidae_ (Seriemá and Chuñia), _Otididae_
(Bustards), _Rhinochetidae_ (Kagu), _Eurypygidae_ (Sun-Bitterns), and
_Heliornithidae_ (Finfoots). Of these a large number are Waders, but the
Land-Rail, the Wekas, the Kagu, the Bustards, and others, cannot be classed
in this category. All agree in having no true crop, a tracheo-bronchial
syrinx, and an elevated hallux; while the front toes are never completely
webbed, though nearly so in _Heliornis_; the nares, moreover, are pervious,
except in _Rhinochetus_. In the last-named the condition of the
newly-hatched young is unknown, in _Heliornis_ they are said to be naked at
first, but in the remainder of the group they are covered with simple down.
In structure the nine Families differ widely, a fact which would seem a
strong argument against combining them under one head; but the aggregate of
such points must be considered, and in any linear system the relationships
within every Order cannot possibly be equally close. The present
arrangement does not differ greatly from that adopted by Mr. Sclater,[171]
wherein he accepted the names _Alectorides_ and _Fulicariae_, used by
Nitzsch, but made the former to consist of the _Aramidae_, _Eurypygidae_,
_Gruidae_, _Psophiidae_, _Cariamidae_, and _Otididae_, and the latter of
the _Rallidae_ and _Heliornithidae_. Some writers, both modern and ancient,
have placed the _Otididae_ in the Limicoline group.
Fam. I. RALLIDAE.–The Rails constitute a somewhat generalized and very
homogeneous Family, found in almost all parts of the world. The body is
peculiarly compressed–enabling them to move with ease in dense
vegetation–while the keel of the sternum is especially reduced in those
flightless forms for which the group is remarkable. The strong bill varies
in dimensions, being long in typical Rails, shorter and thicker in Crakes,
decidedly curved in _Himantornis_, and reaching its maximum size among the
Gallinules in _Porphyrio_ and _Notornis_, where it is subconical. A horny
shield is present upon the forehead in _Megacrex_, _Habroptila_, the
Gallinules and the Coots, which is usually rounded or truncated
{244}posteriorly, but is reduced to a point in _Porphyriops_. This
excrescence is in most cases red, but is sky-blue, light green, or dusky in
_Porphyriola_, green in _Tribonyx_, blackish in _Megacrex_, white, yellow,
or brown in _Fulica_. The lower part of the tibia is bare; the anteriorly
scutellated metatarsus is seldom short, though occasionally very stout; the
toes are long and slender with the elevated hallux weakest; the claws are
fairly long, curved, and sharp. Somewhat shorter digits are found in
_Tribonyx_ and _Pareudiastes_, _Fulica_ has broad lobes of skin along the
front toes, while _Porphyriops_ and _Gallinula_ have narrow entire
membranous margins to them. The wings are generally short and rounded, with
ten or eleven primaries, and from eleven to sixteen secondaries, all the
feathers being obtuse; but in many species these members are imperfectly
developed, and their coverts actually hide the quills in such cases as
_Ocydromus_ and _Notornis_. This retrograde tendency is clearly evidenced
in the "Island Hen" of Tristan da Cunha (_Gallinula_ or _Porphyriornis
nesiotis_) and the Mountain Cock of Gough Island (_G. comeri_), which
flutter along without flying; in the Moho of Hawaii (_Pennula ecaudata_),
_Ocydromus_ and _Notornis_ of New Zealand, and _Habroptila wallacii_ of
Halmahera; not to mention _Eulabeornis_, _Porzanula_, _Nesolimnas_,
_Cabalus_, _Pareudiastes_, and the extinct _Aphanapteryx_, _Aptornis_,
_Diaphorapteryx_, and _Erythromachus_. In several flightless forms, as in
the Dodo, the angle between the scapula and the coracoid is obtuse. The
tail has from ten to fourteen rectrices, the usual number being twelve;
these are short and usually soft, frequently with decomposed webs, and may
be concealed by the coverts, as in _Megacrex_, _Amurolimnas_, and
_Pennula_. Its form varies from narrow and pointed to comparatively broad
and rounded. A large caruncle rises behind the frontal shield in
_Gallicrex_ and _Fulica cornuta_, two knobs being found there in _F.
cristata_: the wing, moreover, is often armed with a sharp spine. The nasal
grooves are commonly long and deep; the pervious nostrils being in the hard
sheath of the bill in Gallinules, and partially covered by a bony or horny
growth in _Rallicula_, _Pareudiastes_, and _Thyrorhina_. The furcula is
U-shaped, the tongue lanceolate, the aftershaft very small. Down is
plentiful in both adults and young, that of the nestlings being commonly
black, while the chicks of our Moor-Hen and Coot have the head adorned with
red and blue. Rails, not being born blind, run from the shell, and swim at
once.
{245}Ralline birds are under ordinary circumstances non-gregarious, and
inhabit tangled marshes or damp localities near rivers and lakes; but many,
and especially the flightless forms, have a predilection for dry plains, as
for instance _Pennula_ of Hawaii, _Ocydromus_ of New Zealand, _Cabalus_ of
the Chatham Islands, _Habroptila_ of Halmahera, _Tricholimnas_ of New
Caledonia, and _Pareudiastes_ of Samoa. _Crex pratensis_ of the Palaearctic
Region also haunts dry lands. _Fulica gigantea_ occurs only on the lakes in
the Andes of Chili, Bolivia, and Peru. Some species are partly crepuscular,
and in Britain the Spotted Crake is certainly little heard except towards
evening. Rails walk easily with bobbing head and jerking tail, while they
prefer running to flying, as the flight is laboured and requires continuous
action of the wings. As may be readily seen in the case of Coots and
Moor-Hens, some difficulty is experienced in rising from water, the feet
trailing along the surface for several yards; but, when once fairly
launched in the air, the legs, which at first hang down, are drawn up below
the tail, and a steady pace is maintained for considerable distances. Most
species swim and dive with facility, and will even remain with only the
bill above water; perching and climbing, too, are common habits. Generally
speaking, the members of this Family are silent birds, though they may be
constantly heard calling towards dusk; the more or less melancholy notes
are less varied than in many other groups, but may be harsh and sonorous,
or loud and clear. The groaning noise uttered by the breeding Water-Rail,
the somewhat frog-like sound made by the Moor-Hen, the continuous craking
of the Corn-Crake, the "cackling" of the Clapper-Rail, the shrill whistle
of the Wekas, the rasping cry of _Ocydromus sylvestris_, the deep
trumpeting of the Purple Gallinule, and the clearer call of the Coot are
some of the most notable exceptions. The food consists of worms, molluscs,
insects and their larvae, green herbage, tubers, roots of aquatic plants
and seeds; _Porphyrio_ and _Tribonyx_ cause serious damage to potato-,
rice-, and corn-crops: while the former bird is said to have a curious
habit of holding the larger edibles in its claws and nibbling them like a
Parrot. Some of the stronger species occasionally prey on mice, lizards,
young birds, and eggs. The nest may be a large mass of aquatic plants or
dry flags, as in the Coots, or a similar but smaller structure, as in the
Gallinules; the former being commonly founded under water, though raised
above it, whereas the latter is generally near the bank
{246}or–exceptionally–at the height of a few feet in a tree or bush. Rails
and Crakes make a more or less substantial fabric in sedges, grass, clover,
and so forth, _Creciscus_ and _Porzanula_ a spherical mass with an entrance
at the side; but _Pareudiastes_, _Cabalus_, and _Ocydromus_ are stated to
breed in most cases in burrows. _Gallicrex_ occasionally fashions its nest
on floating leaves, and the writer has seen a Moor-Hen's nest in a similar
situation. The eggs, from two to ten or more in number, are generally white
or cream-coloured with red-brown, olive, or blackish markings, and often
with faint lilac spots; those of the Coot are stone-drab with small black
specks; those of _Cabalus modestus_ are white with a few indistinct rufous
and grey flecks; those of _Zapornia parva_ and _Porzana bailloni_ are
instances of a thick olive-brown mottling. The adults are stated sometimes
to carry their young in their claws.
Exceptionally the plumage of the Rallidae is nearly black, as in
_Limnocorax_, _Fulica_, and _Habroptila_; slightly browner, as in
Gallinula; blue or greenish-blue as in _Porphyrio_: but the coloration is
normally sober, with a tendency to olive, brown, or chestnut. This may be
relieved by stripes of white, especially on the flanks; the under parts may
be nearly red as in _Creciscus levraudi_; and both surfaces may be spotted
with white as in the male of _Corethrura pulchra_, or flecked and barred
with it, as in _Rallus maculatus_. The sexes are usually alike, but
_Rallicula_, _Zapornia_, _Gallicrex_, and _Corethrura_ are instances of the
contrary.
Space, however, is wanting to give in detail a description of every form,
which is the less necessary in view of their general similarity; but the
following examples will enable a fair idea to be gained of the group.
_Rallus aquaticus_, the Water Rail of Europe and Central Asia, which
winters in North-West India and North Africa, is olive-brown above with
darker streaks, and lead-coloured below, the flanks being barred with black
and white. The genus is found in most parts of the world, with the apparent
exception of North-West Africa and the Australian Region. _Rallus elegans_,
the King-Rail, _R. longirostris_ (_crepitans_), the Clapper-Rail, and _R.
virginianus_ are well-known North American species, while _R.
madagascariensis_ is confined to Madagascar.
In _Hypotaenidia_, which ranges from India and South China to the Pacific
Islands generally, the whole lower parts are barred with black and white,
except in _H. striata_ and _H. mülleri_, where {247}these markings are
restricted to the sides and abdominal region, and in _H. brachypus_, where
the belly is plain.
_Cabalus modestus_ and _Nesolimnas dieffenbachi_ of the Chatham Islands are
curious little brown forms with no visible tail, closely allied to the next
genus, which they resemble in being flightless, and apparently in general
habits. _Ocydromus_ contains the Wood-Hens, or Weka Rails, of New Zealand,
of which _O. greyi_ of the North Island is tawny above with dark
shaft-stripes or bars, and grey below with fulvous fore-neck and sides. _O.
carli_ of the South Island is more cinnamon in hue; _O. australis_, also of
the South Island, is less grey below, and usually has barred flanks; _O.
fuscus_ of the south-west of the South Island is blacker than the
first-named; _O. hectori_ is a paler race of _O. australis_. These Rails
are semi-nocturnal, and sometimes excavate burrows, in which, or in the
scrub, they pass much of the day; the localities preferred are dry woods,
ravines, and sandy shores, _O. fuscus_ obtaining the name of Kelp-Hen from
the stretches of sea-weed that it frequents. This species feeds on
sea-molluscs, but its congeners will eat young birds, lizards,
caterpillars, worms, insects, and berries. The cry is a sharp whistle,
often preceded by a growl, the birds being very tame when unmolested. They
are pugnacious, inquisitive, and thievish, stealing articles from tents or
houses, attacking fowls, or sucking their eggs. Their own eggs are from
five to seven, both these and the nest, which is generally in a burrow,
much resembling those of other Rails. _Ocydromus sylvestris_, of Lord Howe
Island, is nearly uniform rufous above and brownish below, with barred
wings and tail; it lays similar eggs upon the ground.
The dusky _Tricholimnas lafresnayi_ of New Caledonia is remarkable for its
soft hair-like plumage, and the purplish-brown and black _Gymnocrex
rosenbergi_ of Celebes for its bare yellowish orbits.
_Aramides_ includes eight species found in Central and South America, of
which _A. ypecaha_ may be taken as a representative. It is olive-green
above, with chestnut nape, black rump and tail, and greyish below with
white throat and vinous belly; the bill is yellow, the feet are scarlet.
Cautious when danger threatens, it is sufficiently audacious to attack
poultry; among its native swamps it usually walks in stately style or
struts on the branches of trees, though it can run quickly; while it lies
closely when surprised on open ground, dashing up with the whirring flight
of a Partridge. The alarm-note is powerful, unearthly shrieks being uttered
{248}during both day and night. Companies are described by Mr. Hudson as
meeting to dance about with expanded wings and open beaks.[172] Somewhat
similar in colour to certain members of the last genus is _Megacrex inepta_
of South New Guinea, one of the largest Rails known, which is usually seen
running swiftly along water-courses; while the black _Habroptila wallacii_
of Halmahera loves forests. The curious _Himantornis haematopus_ of West
Africa is brown, with black and rufous mottlings above, whitish throat,
stout green and black bill, and red feet. _Dryolimnas cuvieri_ of
Madagascar, Mauritius, and Aldabra Island, and _Canirallus kioloïdes_ of
the first-named and West Africa must be briefly mentioned, as must
_Rallina_ reaching from India to North-East Australia, which has half a
dozen small brown species, with chestnut on the head and chest, and black
and white barring below.
[Illustration: FIG. 50.–Land-Rail. _Crex pratensis._ × ¼.]
_Crex pratensis_, the widely-ranging Corn-Crake or Land-Rail, extends from
most of Europe to the north of Central Asia, wintering in Africa, and
occurring accidentally in North America, or even Greenland and Australia.
_Zapornia parva_, the Little Crake, _Porzana maruetta_, the Spotted Crake,
and _P. bailloni_, Baillon's Crake, are somewhat similar British Birds, the
two latter of which have bred in our islands, _P. maruetta_ still doing so
in some districts. This species is brownish-olive with white flecks above
and below, grey belly, and flanks showing black and white bars. Of its
dozen congeners, covering nearly the whole globe, _P. carolina_, the Sora
Rail of North America, is particularly well-known. In the Ethiopian genus
_Corethrura_, extending to Madagascar, the males are blackish, spotted or
streaked with white, and have fine chestnut heads, necks, or even breasts,
the female being dusky with rufous mottlings: in _Rallicula_ of New Guinea
the chestnut extends over most of the body. _Porzanula_ {249}_palmeri_ of
Laysan, an interesting little flightless form with a soft chirping note,
which the first discoverer caught with a hand-net, makes its nest under
grass-tussocks. Closely allied to _Porzana_ is _Creciscus_, a genus of a
dozen species ranging from the United States to the Galápagos, Chili, and
Paraguay; two at least of them being remarkable for building a spherical
nest with a side entrance in coarse herbage or low bushes, while one is
said to make a sort of ladder to reach a platform before its porch.[173]
_Limnocorax niger_ of the Ethiopian Region is a glossy black bird with red
feet and greenish bill, which walks upon the leaves of water-lilies and
such plants, like a Jaçana.
_Amaurornis_, inhabiting the Oriental Region and extending to New Britain,
links the foregoing genera to the Gallinules. _A. phoenicura_ is a dark
greyish bird with white under parts and chestnut flanks, the other three
species being duller.
_Tribonyx mortieri_, the "Native Hen" of Victoria, South Australia, and
Tasmania, and _T. ventralis_ of considerably wider range, are respectively
ruddy- and olive-brown forms, with blackish tail and vent, slaty lower
surface, and white flank-marks. They appear at times in flocks, which
arrive and depart with equal suddenness, destroy the settlers' crops, strut
about like fowls, and in many respects resemble Moor-Hens in habits, nests,
and eggs. The legs are unusually powerful.
_Gallinula_ extends over the greater part of both hemispheres, and is
represented in Europe, Asia, and Africa by our common Moor-Hen (_G.
chloropus_), dark olive-brown above and grey below, with white lower
tail-coverts, white flank-stripes, red frontal plate, and scarlet garter on
the tibia. _G. galeata_ of most of the New World differs in the posteriorly
truncated shield, but _G. sandvicensis_ of the Sandwich Islands is barely
separable. The smaller African _G. angulata_, _G. tenebrosa_ of Australia
and New Guinea, and _G. frontata_ of the two last-named countries, the
Moluccas and Borneo, complete the group; unless _G. pyrrhorhoa_ of
Madagascar and _G. dionysiana_ of St. Denys be accounted distinct from _G.
chloropus_. The flightless _G._ (_Porphyriornis_) _nesiotis_ of Tristan da
Cunha and _G. comeri_ of Gough Island have already been mentioned.
_Gallicrex cinerea_, the "Water-Cock" of the Indian Region, which reaches
Japan, is dull black, with lighter edges to the feathers above, a yellow
and red bill, and red frontal shield. A pinkish {250}fleshy horn springs
from the forehead, said to become very small in winter, and to be wanting
in the female, which is varied below with white and buff. It has a loud
booming cry, and fights like a domestic Cock, but otherwise resembles the
Gallinules in habits.
_Porphyrio_ comprises some dozen fine species with blue plumage, found in
Africa and Madagascar, and from the Mediterranean to South China and
Polynesia; several individuals, probably escaped from captivity, being
recorded from Britain. _P. caeruleus_ (_veterum_) is purplish-blue above
with blacker remiges and rectrices, and purplish-black below with bright
blue cheeks, throat, and chest, and white under tail-coverts; the bill,
shield, and feet are red. It is chiefly a Mediterranean bird, but reaches
Mesopotamia. Others of its congeners are greener or blacker. The habits,
nest, and eggs are like those of the Coot, whereas the next genus–in the
writer's opinion inseparable–appears more akin in manners to the Moor-Hen.
_Porphyriola alleni_ occurs in Africa, with Madagascar and Rodriguez, and
strays to the Canary Islands and South Europe; _P. martinica_ ranges from
Florida, Texas, or even New England, to the West Indies and Brazil; _P.
parva_, from the last-named to Amazonia and Guiana. _Porphyriops
crassirostris_ and _P. melanops_ occupy South America.
_Notornis mantelli_ of New Zealand,[174] now probably extinct, was
olive-green above with only a tinge of blue; the head, neck, and under
surface being dark purplish-blue, the bill, shield, and feet red. It was
practically a gigantic _Porphyrio_ with very stout legs, short wings, and
soft tail, which was unable to fly, but ran with great swiftness, being
solitary and retiring. Its native name Moho is that also given to other
Rails in New Zealand, and _Pennula ecaudata_ in Hawaii; it therefore may
only mean "Rail." The white _N. alba_ of Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands
certainly exists no longer.
_Fulica_ includes twelve species, of which the majority are South American,
though the genus extends over most of the globe; Polynesia possesses only
_F. alai_ of the Sandwich Islands, but three of the members reach
Patagonia. _F. atra_, our grey-black Coot, with flesh-coloured bill, white
shield and greenish legs relieved by an orange garter, ranges through
Europe and Asia, and to North Africa and the Philippines southwards; its
habits are well-known, {251}while the lobed toes are noticed above. The
smaller _F. lugubris_ of Sumatra, Java, and Celebes is hardly distinct; the
North American _F. americana_ and the Australian _F. australis_ are very
similar; the Andean _F. gigantea_ is extremely large; while the red frontal
caruncles of the Bolivian _F. cornuta_ and of the African and
South-European _F. cristata_ have already been mentioned.
Of fossil Rallidae an extraordinary number are found, ranging from the
possibly toothed _Telmatornis_ of the American Cretaceous rocks,
_Gypsornis_, _Orthnocnemus_, _Elaphrocnemus_, and _Tapinopus_ of the French
Upper Eocene, and _Rallus_ of both Eocene and Miocene of the same country,
to _Fulica minor_ of the Pliocene of Oregon. Of more recently exterminated
forms we have _Tribonyx_ (?) _roberti_ from Central Madagascar, the
long-billed flightless _Aphanapteryx broecki_ and _Fulica newtoni_ from the
Mare aux Songes in Mauritius, _Porphyrio caerulescens_ from Réunion, and
the "Poule Rouge" (_Erythromachus leguati_) from Rodriguez. In New Zealand
are found the large _Aptornis defossor_ and _A. otidiformis_, with two
species of _Notornis_; in the Chatham Islands _Diaphorapteryx hawkinsi_ and
_Ocydromus insignis_–all six flightless; in the latter islands, too, an
extinct _Fulica_ (_Palaeolimnas_) occurs, and in Norfolk and Lord Howe
Islands _Notornis alba_, as above. Queensland furnishes _Porphyrio
mackintoshi_, _P. reperta_, _Tribonyx effluxus_, _Gallinula strenuipes_,
_G. peralata_, and _Fulica prior_. The Sandwich Islands may possibly yet
contain _Rallus sandvicensis_ and _Pennula ecaudata_, further instances of
flightless species, but this is improbable.
Fam. II. GRUIDAE.–The Cranes are very old forms, superficially somewhat
like Herons, and often confounded with them in local parlance–as is the
case in Scotland and Ireland. They are among the largest of Waders, and are
scattered over most of the globe, except the Malay islands, Papuasia, and
Polynesia; but in the Neotropical Region they are mere migrants from the
north, never found south of Mexico. Their headquarters are in North-East
Asia, while America possesses only three species, and Australia one.
These long-necked and long-legged birds have a moderate bill, straight and
rather compressed, which varies from slender to stout, with a lateral
groove on each side of the mandible and nasal furrows about halfway down
the maxilla; in _Balearica_ this feature is comparatively short. The
metatarsus is scutellated in front, reticulated behind; the tibia is partly
bare; the toes are short and stout, the anterior being more or less
connected at the base by a {252}membrane; the hallux is small, much
elevated, and furnished with a sharp hooked claw. The wings are described
by different writers as long or moderate, but are certainly ample and
rounded, with about thirty-three quills, of which eleven are primaries; the
decomposed inner secondaries exceed the last-named, and are either
lanceolate and drooping, or broad and erectile, while in _Bugeranus_ and
_Tetrapteryx_ they are extraordinarily extended. The short tail has twelve
rectrices. _Anthropoïdes_ has long silky auricular plumes, _Balearica_ a
bristly crest and a naked gular wattle, _Bugeranus_ a feathered lappet on
each side of the throat, _Antigone australasiana_ a pendulous pouch, and
most species, as will be seen below, a partly bare carunculated head. The
tongue is lanceolate, the nostrils pervious; while, except in _Balearica_,
the trachea of the adult is convoluted within the keel of the sternum, but
enters it behind the clavicles,–which are often ancylosed with it,–and not
in front of them, as in certain Swans, the development varying according to
the species and the age. In _Anthropoïdes_ the cavity of the keel is open
laterally. The furcula is Y-shaped, the aftershaft is very small, the down
is uniform in both adults and young.
Cranes are inhabitants of morasses and plains, being especially fond of the
neighbourhood of lagoons, tanks, and fields of corn or rice; yet they are
also found in boggy openings in forests, on sandy flats, or even on the
sea-shore. They are gregarious after the breeding season, when they often
collect into flocks of immense size, which pass the night together and
traverse vast distances in company. The northern species all migrate
southwards in winter. Erect and tall, they may be seen striding swiftly
along with head thrown back, or strutting around their mates; while in
spring they often stand in rows and proceed to stalk about in single file,
or dance to meet one another with nodding heads, necks advanced, and wings
widely outspread. Thereafter they bow towards the ground, jump in the air,
and perform graceful antics of all descriptions. The chosen spot for these
dances is commonly near water. The male courts his spouse in somewhat
similar fashion, and twigs or feathers are often tossed in the air in
sport, to be caught again ere they touch the ground. Rising from a level
spot appears to be a difficult matter, the birds running awkwardly for a
few yards, and labouring heavily with their wings to gain their purpose;
when once in the air, however, the flight is steady and swift, with head
{253}and legs outstretched, though this is varied by countless elegant
evolutions and gyrations, as they rise higher and higher until they become
mere specks in the heavens, and finally disappear from sight. The
characteristic utterance is a harsh guttural or resonant trumpeting sound,
uttered on the ground with the head thrown back and the bill open, or
repeated incessantly at great elevations; but the Whooping Crane has a
clear, piercing cry, the Asiatic White Crane a feeble but mellow whistle,
and the Crowned Cranes a plaintive but fairly sonorous set of notes. The
varying calibre of the voice has been thought to be connected with the
convolutions of the trachea mentioned above, the young giving vent to a
weak pipe or trill. Virgil's lines concerning the noise made before rain,
and the flight, are well-known to Latin scholars. The food consists of
grain, pulse, acorns, shoots, flowers, roots, tubers, bulbs, and the like,
with the occasional addition of small mammals and birds, reptiles,
amphibians, worms, insects, and even fish; the members of this Family,
however, dislike wading, and only swim under compulsion. Feeding chiefly in
the morning and evening, when they post sentinels, as Rooks do, they often
stand or doze upon one leg, with the head drawn back upon the shoulders.
Cranes, which are said to pair for life, return to the same breeding haunts
annually, where they either construct a large fabric of reeds, rushes, and
aquatic herbage, or use straw and small twigs for their nest. The conical
pile, with its moderate depression on the top, is commonly placed in
shallows, fresh materials being added if the water rises. Several species,
on the other hand, merely scrape a hole in marshy ground, on dry plains,
among standing corn or grass, or on sandy beaches, while occasionally
reed-beds are selected. The eggs, two, or rarely three in number, are
generally creamy white, olive-brown or buff, with reddish-brown, red, or
purplish-grey spots and blotches; those of the Indian Sarus Cranes have a
bluish- or greenish-white ground, while those of the Crowned Cranes are not
uncommonly plain bluish-white. The male is said to incubate in some cases,
and both parents tend the young carefully for a considerable time, though
the latter run from the shell; the female sits with her head drawn in upon
her shoulders, and is usually loth to leave her charge. When wounded these
birds are very dangerous, fighting boldly with bill and wings. They are
very palatable when fed on grain, the breast in particular {254}resembling
beef-steak. Cranes are easily domesticated, and, in certain districts of
India, in Japan, and among the Kalmuks, they are held in reverence, though
elsewhere they are often killed for the sake of their decorative plumes.