Natural History, Birds/Gallinæ
ORDER V. GALLINÆ.
(Poultry.)
Of all the Orders of birds there is none which is so valuable to man as this; their flesh is tender, sapid, and digestible, and their eggs are in high esteem as human aliment, while from their generally large size, the number of the eggs which they lay, and consequently their rapid increase, the power which they exhibit of accommodating themselves to the vicissitudes of climate, and the facility with which they are domesticated, they may be considered as supplying the place of the Ruminants among Mammalia.
The characters by which they are distinguished are strong and well-defined. They are all granivorous, feeding on the farinaceous grains, pulse, and seeds, which are cultivated by man for his own sustenance, or upon their wild representatives; though insects are often added to this diet. Their heavy carriage, stout form, small head, and short, rounded, and hollow wings, at once distinguish them from other birds, while their soft and slight breast-bone (sternum), so cut away that the horizontal portion is reduced to two narrow strips on each side, its keel obliquely hollowed away in front, and the merrythought-bone (furcula) attached to it only by a ligament, are equally distinctive peculiarities in their internal anatomy. And these peculiarities exercise an important influence on the habits and economy of these birds; for the bones thus diminished are those to which are attached the muscles which agitate the wings, which being necessarily small and weak, flight is feeble and laborious. Hence the Poultry reside chiefly on the ground, or on the low branches of trees; rarely mounting on the wing except to carry themselves beyond the reach of sudden danger, or to elevate themselves to their nocturnal roosting-perch. With the exception of a few species, they perform the business of incubation on the ground, laying their numerous eggs in a hollow slightly scratched in the earth, or at most on a few carelessly accumulated sticks, or straws.
Very many of the species are richly coloured; and some are adorned with metallic reflections of the most refulgent splendour. In general, the male is larger and more gaily coloured than the female; and he is frequently distinguished by some peculiar development of the tail or its coverts. The tail in this Order has more than the ordinary number of feathers, having from fourteen to eighteen. The species, though inoffensive towards other animals, are irritable and pugnacious between themselves; the males of several species fighting with a determined pertinacity that frequently yields only to death.
The Poultry are chiefly found in the continents; the islands, unless very large, or in the vicinity of a continent, being comparatively destitute of them. The south and east of Asia, and the deep forests and glades of America, produce the greatest number of species, as well as the most remarkable for size and beauty.
Six Families are included in this Order, viz., Cracidæ, Megapodidæ, Phasianidæ, Tetraonidæ, Chionididæ, and Tinamidæ.
Family I. Cracidæ.
(Curassows.)
In these large fowls of South America, which somewhat resemble the Turkeys, we find an exception to one important character of the Gallinaceous Order, which indicates a connexion with the Passerine birds. The hind toe is articulated on the same plane as the others, touching the ground in its whole length when walking, and thus the foot is constructed on the type of that of the Perchers. In conformity with such a structure, these birds possess habits much more arboreal than the other Poultry-birds, spending a great deal of their time on the trees of the dense forests in which they reside, forming their nests among their branches, and feeding on their buds and fruit. The curved form of the claws, their compressed sides, and their acute points, afford additional indications that these birds are not habitually employed in walking and scratching the ground. The tarsi, too, are destitute of spurs. In other particulars, however, these birds adhere to the distinctive characters of the Order.
The Curassows are some of the most valuable additions that America has made to our domestic Poultry, though they are as yet but partially introduced into England. One of the objects of the formation of the Zoological Society of London, was the introduction and domestication of useful foreign animals, and among these it has devoted especial attention to the Cracidæ. Soon after the formation of its menagerie, its late esteemed Secretary, Mr. Bennett, thus wrote:—"Of all the Gallinaceous birds in the collection, the most interesting are those which hold out to us a prospect of supplying our farm-yards with new breeds of Poultry of a superior kind. Such are especially the Curassows. In many parts of South America these birds have long been reclaimed; and it is really surprising, considering the extreme familiarity of their manners, and the facility with which they appear to pass from a state of nature to the tameness of domestic fowls, that they have not yet been introduced into the poultry-yards of Europe. That with proper treatment they would speedily become habituated to the climate, we have no reason to doubt; on the contrary, numerous examples have shewn that they thrive well even in its northern parts; and M. Temminck informs us, that they have once at least been thoroughly acclimated in Holland, where they were as prolific in their domesticated state as any of our common poultry. The establishment, however, in which this had been effected, was broken up by the civil commotions which followed in the train of the French Revolution, and all the pains which had been bestowed upon the education of these birds, were lost to the world by their sudden and complete dispersion. The task which had at that time been in some measure accomplished still remains to be performed; and it may not be too much to expect that the Zoological Society may be successful in perfecting what was then so well begun, and in naturalizing the Curassow as completely as our ancestors have done the equally exotic, and, in their wild state, much less familiar, breeds of the Turkey, the Guinea-fowl, and the Peacock. Their introduction would certainly be most desirable, not merely on account of their size and beauty, but also for the whiteness and excellence of their flesh, which is said by those who have eaten of it to surpass that of the Guinea-fowl or of the Pheasant in the delicacy of its flavour."[1]
Genus Crax. (Linn.)
The beak in the genus before us, is of moderate length, very high at the base, thick, keeled above, curving downward to the point; the base surrounded by a membrane, sometimes brightly coloured, in which the nostrils are pierced. The space between the beak and the eyes is naked; the head is covered with a crest of long erected feathers, which are singularly curled over at their tips. The tail, which consists of fourteen feathers, is broad, spread out, and inclined downwards. The wings are short, the sixth quill the longest.
The common Crested Curassow (Crax alector, Linn.) is a native of Mexico, Guiana, and Brazil. In the forests of Guiana, M. Sonnini speaks of it as so abundant as to form an unfailing resource of the traveller who has to trust to his gun for a supply of food. They are described as congregating in numerous flocks, allowing the intrusion of man without much alarm. In the neighbourhood of cultivated districts they have learned distrust by experience. It is proper to observe, however, in Brazil, Mr. Swainson was not so fortunate as to meet with a single specimen, though he occasionally heard of one being seen; and he adds
CRESTED CURASSOW.
The nest of this bird is built on trees, of branches interlaced with the stalks of herbaceous plants, internally lined with leaves. It lays but once a year, during the rainy season, when six or eight eggs are deposited, as large as those of a Turkey, but white like those of a Hen, and with a thicker shell. The plumage of the Crested Curassow is of a deep glossy black, but the lower belly is white; the naked skin of the face and the cere are bright yellow. The curled tips of the crown-feathers, look like a great number of little velvety globules.
Family II. Megapodidæ.
The present Family, scattered over the continent of Australia, and the easternmost islands of the great Indian Archipelago, even to the Philippines, is peculiarly interesting because of its very remarkable domestic economy recently investigated by Mr. Gould. The details, in one species, we shall presently describe.
The beak is vaulted, somewhat compressed; the wings are short and rounded; the tail is short, varying in the number of its feathers from twelve to eighteen; the feet are of disproportionate size and strength; the tarsi being stout, elevated, and strongly scaled; the toes long and robust, and armed with strong, flat, rasorial claws.
The flesh of these singular birds is white, and highly esteemed for its tenderness and flavour. The eggs are of enormous size as compared with those of other birds.
Genus Megapodius. (Less.)
The beak of the Megapodes is slender, nearly straight, and somewhat like that of a fowl; the nostrils placed at the end of a groove reaching beyond the middle, the groove covered with a membrane clothed with small feathers. The head and neck are well feathered, except a naked space around the eye. The feet are large and strong, placed far backwards; the tarsus large, long, and covered with large scales; the hind toe resting wholly on the ground; the claws are very long and robust, flattened above, little curved, blunt at the point. The wings are rounded and hollow; the tail small, wedge-shaped; composed of twelve feathers.
The most interesting species known is that called by the colonists at Port Essington in North Australia, the Jungle-fowl (Megapodius tumulus, Gould), which is about as large as a common fowl. Its upper parts are of a bright red-brown; the tail blackish; the under parts dark grey; the head is furnished with a long recumbent crest. It is known to be spread over the Cobourg Peninsula, and will probably be found to range over the whole northern region of the Australian continent.
It is to the researches of Mr. John Gilbert that we are indebted for our knowledge of this singular bird's economy. On his arrival at Port Essington many great mounds of earth were pointed out to him, which were supposed by the colonists to be tumuli of the aborigines, but which the natives asserted to be formed by the Jungle-fowl, for the purpose of hatching its eggs. To ascertain the truth, Mr. Gilbert accompanied an intelligent native to an unfrequented spot of the coast, where he soon found a mound on the beach, composed of sand and shells, of a conical form, twenty feet in circumference at the base, and about five feet high. The native asserted that this was "Jungle-fowl's house." Mr. Gilbert having scrambled up the side of it, found in a hole, two feet deep, a young bird, apparently only a few days old, lying on some dry leaves. The native decided, from the absence of recent traces of the old birds, that it was useless to search for eggs. The young bird was put into a box, with a quantity of sand and some Indian corn, which it ate freely. Its disposition was wild and intractable, and it was incessantly employed in scratching up the sand into heaps, and throwing it from one end of the box to another with a surprising rapidity for so small a bird. In scratching, the bird employed only one foot, and having grasped a handful, as it were, threw it behind with little apparent exertion, and without shifting its standing position on the other leg, an action which seemed to have little connexion with its feeding; for though the corn was mixed with the sand, Mr. Gilbert never detected the bird in picking up any while thus engaged. At night it was so restless and noisy, that it was impossible to sleep, making efforts to escape, which, on the third day, it effected.
Some months after this Mr. Gilbert saw two eggs taken from a depth of six feet, in one of the largest mounds he had met with. The holes ran obliquely downwards, so that, though the eggs were six feet from the summit, they were not more than two or three feet distant from the side. A single egg is laid in each hole, which is then filled with earth lightly thrown in, and smoothed at the top. To reach the eggs requires no little exertion and perseverance; the natives dig them up with the hands alone, making only sufficient room to admit their bodies, and to throw out the earth between their legs. In the present instance the native dug down six times in succession to a depth of six or seven feet, without finding an egg, and at the last attempt came up so exhausted that
MOUND-RAISING MEGAPODIUS.
On another occasion an egg was obtained, after an hour's arduous labour, from a mound fifteen feet high, and sixty feet in circumference. As usual, it was so enveloped in dense trees, as to exclude the rays of the sun from its surface; yet its interior felt quite warm. The egg is nearly as large as that of a swan; it is white, but tinged by the soil of a dingy brown hue.
The Jungle-fowl seems to be confined to the thickets near the sea. It is always seen in pairs or singly; its food consists of roots, which it scratches up with great facility, and of seeds, berries, and large beetles. It flies heavily and awkwardly, with much whirring of its hollow wings. The native's imitation of its note was like the clucking of the domestic fowl, ending with a scream like that of the peacock.[3]
Family III. Phasianidæ
(Pheasants.)
The extensive Family at which we are now arrived contains birds of large size, imposing aspect, and magnificent plumage; and as the flesh of all is in good esteem, it is the most important of all to man. Some of its members have been kept in a state of domestication for so long a period that history and tradition have both failed to fix its commencement: thus the earliest Greek poets recognise the common Fowl and the Peacock as well known birds, whose introduction was unrecorded; while the European possession of the Pheasant is carried by them back to a fabulous period, and enveloped in the mists of twelve centuries before the Christian era.
The beak in the Phasianidæ is arched, and the nostril is covered with a vaulted, smooth, naked, horny scale. The wings are short, rounded, and hollow beneath; incapable of rapid or long-sustained flight. The feet are large and powerful; the tarsus naked, covered in front with large scales or plates, and furnished with one or more curved and pointed spurs; the hind toe is placed higher up on the tarsus than the three front ones, so that in walking, its tip alone touches the surface; the claws are slightly curved, and obtuse at the point. The tail consists of eighteen feathers, which in all are well developed either in breadth or length, and in some extraordinarily; in some cases those of each side are set in different planes, so that the tail folds upon itself perpendicularly, the undersides of the right feathers meeting those of the left. In other or the same genera, the tail-coverts are greatly lengthened. The males generally are of superior size and magnificence to the females; and many shine in the most rich, though not usually showy hues, and reflect the gorgeous refulgence of precious stones, or polished metal. In most cases some part of the skin of the face is naked and brightly coloured, and many are ornamented with wattles, combs, or feathery crests, most conspicuous in the male sex.
The torrid regions of Southern and Eastern Asia yield the greatest number of species, and those the most gorgeous; but one genus, that of the Guinea-fowl, is peculiar to Africa, and one, that of the Turkeys, to America.
Genus Pavo. (Linn.)
This noble fowl, though not a native of this country, has been domesticated with us so long as to be familiar to all our readers. The genus, which contains but two recognised species, is distinguished by the following characters: the beak is convex, rather stout, curved towards the tip, smooth at the base; the cheeks partially naked; the nostrils, situated at the base of the beak, are open; the head surmounted with an erect crest of slender, peculiarly formed feathers; the wings are short, the sixth quill the longest; the tail-coverts very long, broad, and erectile, in the male.
The Common Peacock (Pavo cristatus, Linn.) is mentioned as known in Greece in very early times; Eupolis and Athenaeus, who flourished in the fifth century before Christ, speak of it; and even five centuries farther back, it was regularly imported into Judea from the east in the fleets of Solomon: while, at an era still more remote, its beauty is appealed to, as a thing commonly known on the southern border of the same country.[4]
It seems scarcely necessary to describe a bird so familiarly known; to dilate upon its light coronet of lance-tipped feathers, its taper neck, and swelling breast of changeable purple, its back and wings of brassy-green, or its superb lengthened tail-coverts, with their dilated tips marked with eye-spots of the richest purple, surrounded by rings of green, black, and chestnut, radiant with gem-like reflections. These feathers do not constitute the tail, for they begin to grow far up on the back, so that when erected and spread, scarcely more than the head and neck of the bird appear in front of them. The true tail is situated beneath, and is commonly concealed by these,
PEACOCK
Immense flocks of these splendid birds in a wild state exist in the forests of India and the great adjacent islands: and these have been ascertained to be specifically identical with our domestic races. Colonel Sykes describes the species as abundant in the dense woods of the Ghauts; it is readily domesticated, and many Hindoo temples in the Deccan, as he informs us, have considerable flocks of them.
Colonel Williamson also, in his account of Peacock-shooting, states that he had seen about the passes in the Jungletery District, surprising numbers of wild Pea-fowl. He speaks with admiration of the whole woods being covered with their beautiful plumage, to which the rising sun imparted additional brilliancy. Small patches of plain among the long grass, most of them cultivated, and with mustard then in bloom, which induced the birds to feed, increased the beauty of the scene. "I speak within bounds," observes the Colonel, "when I assert that there could not be less than twelve or fifteen hundred Pea-fowls, of various sizes, within sight of the spot where I stood for near an hour."
From the same respectable authority we learn that it is easy to get a shot at these fine birds in the jungle, but where they flock together, as they do to the number of forty or fifty, there is greater difficulty. Then they are not easily flushed, and run very fast; so fast, indeed, that the Colonel doubts whether a slow spaniel could make them take wing. Their flight is heavy and strong, generally within an easy shot; if merely winged, they frequently escape by swiftness of foot. They roost on high trees, into which they fly towards dusk.
The flesh of the Peacock, when not old, is juicy and savoury, and though not often eaten now, was in former times an important addition to great banquets. It was served up by the sewer with much ceremony, dressed in its own brilliant plumage. The adventurous knight of the days of chivalry was accustomed to make his solemn vows, "before the Peacock and the Ladies."
Family IV. Tetraonidæ.
(Grouse,)
The groups which form this extensive Family are distinguished from the Phasianidæ by their more simple appearance; by the absence of the naked crests and wattles that are so common among the last-named birds, as well as of the brilliant colours and metallic lustre of their plumage. In the Grouse we find no naked skin about the head, with the exception of the space which surrounds the eye; this, when present, is of a scarlet hue. The tail is in general very short, and in some genera only rudimentary; yet there are species, as the larger Grouse of Europe and America, and the Pintails of Africa, which manifest a tendency to the great development of this organ, which is so characteristic of the Pheasants. The hind toe which in the last-named Family is long and powerful, is in that before us small and weak, and in the extreme genera reduced to a rudiment; thus preparing us for the birds of the succeeding Family, in which it is altogether wanting.
Though some genera of the Tetraonidæ are found in the warmer regions of the earth, yet the majority of them, and those the most typical of the group, are natives of the cold regions of the north hemisphere, or of the summits of alpine ranges of mountains. Many of these are protected from the cold by having the feet more or less clothed with feathers, in some extending even to the extremities of the toes.
The Grouse in general depart from the polygamous habits of their Order; pairing at the breeding season, and remaining in associations, each composed of a single brood, for the rest of the year; there are several species, however, which do not pair. During winter they congregate in large flocks, without distinction of broods, and continue thus assembled till the nuptial season. In most of the genera, there is a nuptial change of plumage, more or less obvious, and in those of very cold countries, there is a state of plumage peculiar to the winter season. They all breed on the ground, and with few exceptions lay a great number of eggs at a time: they are terrestrial in their general habits, running with great ease and celerity; some perch on the low stunted trees of cold climates, on the unexpanded leaf-buds of which they largely feed. Various kinds of cultivated grain, and the seeds of grasses, and of leguminous plants afford food to others. The flesh of almost all is highly esteemed for its tenderness and high flavour.
Genus Tetrao. (Linn.)
The largest birds of the Family are found in this genus, the Capercailzie of Northern Europe, and the Cock of the Plains of the Rocky Mountains being scarcely inferior to the Turkey in dimensions. It is thus characterized: the beak is short, very strong, and arched from the base to the tip; the nostrils are situated on each side of the base, partly hidden by an arched scale, and small close-set feathers. A naked skin above the eyes, of a bright scarlet colour; enlarging in spring. Wings short, rounded, and hollow: tail of sixteen feathers, very ample, and expanding. Feet naked, with the edges of the toes toothed; the tarsi feathered.
The dense pine-forest, the wild plain, the mountain and the barren rock, the moorland and the heath, are the resorts of the true Grouse. The northern part of our own Island, in common with the colder regions of Scandinavia and Russia, formerly produced, in considerable abundance, the most magnificent species known, the Capercailzie, or Cock of the Wood (Tetrao urogallus, Linn.); but his size, beauty, imposing appearance, and savoury flesh long ago caused his extermination from our woods. The last specimen is recorded to have been killed in Scotland about seventy years ago. By the exertions of some of the Scottish nobility, however, this fine bird seems likely to become again a wild denizen of our northern woods. In particular, Lord Breadalbane procured from Sweden at great expense, in the year 1838 and the early part of 1839, forty-four adult Capercailzie, the majority of which were hens. A portion of these were put into a large aviary, and others turned out into the forest, and we are informed that both divisions succeeded, and that seventy-nine young birds were known to be hatched out during the season of 1839. By an article published in the Sporting Review, for April, 1840, it appears that the greatest success was obtained by putting the eggs laid in the aviary into the nests of wild Black Grouse. Forty-nine young Capercailzie were by this single method alone known to be hatched in the open country.[5]
CAPERCAILZIE.
The Capercailzie is about the size of a Turkey: a fine male will sit fully two feet above the branch on which he is perched; Mr. Yarrell gives the length of a specimen as three feet four inches. The general plumage is blackish, minutely freckled with whitish, so as to impart a grey hue; the breast is of a fine dark green; the quills chestnut-red; the tail-coverts, which are lengthened, run down in two series, and are tipped with white; the tail itself is black.
The leaves and young shoots of the Scotch fir, the berries of the juniper, cranberries, &c., with worms and insects, constitute the common food of the Capercailzie; in winter he eats also the buds of the birch.
"In the spring," observes Mr. Lloyd, in his Field Sports of the North of Europe, "and often when the ground is still deeply covered with snow, the cock stations himself on a pine, and commences his love-song, or play, as it is termed in Sweden, to attract the hens about him. This is usually from the first dawn of day to sunrise, or from a little after sunset until it is quite dark. During his play the neck of the Capercali is stretched out, his tail is raised and spread like a fan, his wings droop, his feathers are ruffled up, and in short he much resembles in appearance an angry Turkey-cock. He begins his play with a call something resembling the word peller, peller, peller; these sounds he repeats at first at some little intervals ; but as he proceeds they increase in rapidity, until at last, and after perhaps the lapse of a minute or so, he makes a sort of gulp in his throat, and finishes by drawing in his breath. During the continuance of this latter process, which only lasts a few seconds, the head of the Capercali is thrown up, his eyes are partially closed, and his whole appearance would denote that he is worked up into an agony of passion.
"On hearing the call of the cock, the hens, whose cry in some degree resembles the croak of the Raven, or rather, perhaps, the sound gock, gock, gock, assemble from all parts of the surrounding forest. The male bird now descends, from the eminence on which he was perched, to the ground, where he and his female friends join company."
Family V. Chionididæ.
(Sheath-bills.)
Of this Family we possess but little information. It is extremely limited in extent, consisting of a few species inhabiting the high mountains or dry plains of South America, or the remotest parts of the Southern Ocean. They resemble the Grouse, but have the nostrils surrounded by a sort of sheath. The typical genus Chionis is often found far out at sea, but chiefly inhabits the rocks washed by the tide, feeding on sea-weeds and shells; hence they have been placed by some naturalists with the wading-birds.
Genus Chionis. (Forst.)
The beak, in the two species which constitute this genus, is strong, broad at the base, but compressed near the tip, with the culmen curving downward; the base is encased in a horny substance, furrowed and notched, which conceals the nostrils. The cheeks are covered with a naked skin. The wings are moderate, the second quill longest, the shoulder armed with a tubercle. The tail is moderate and even. The tarsi and toes are short and strong, the outer toe united at the base to its fellow by a membrane; the hind toe small, elevated, and placed on one side; the claws are short and blunt.
SHEATH-BILL.
These singular birds of snow-white plumage are found on the dreary and iron-bound shores around Cape Horn, or on the solitary islands and rocks of the Antarctic Ocean. They have been met with by southern voyagers at a great distance from any land, and are supposed to rest and feed on sea-weeds and other refuse matter cast up on the icebergs of those remote seas. They frequent the shores for the same purposes, searching the beaches and rocks for shelled mollusca, chiefly the limpets (Patella), on which they principally subsist; they do not reject, however, other animal matters thrown up by the action of the waves, as well as sea-weeds, and these are found in their stomachs, usually mingled with small stones. Their flight is rapid, and resembles that of a Pigeon.
We illustrate the genus by the Small Sheath-bill (Chionis minor), which is about as large as a Lapwing, of a pure white hue, with red beak and feet.
Family VI. Tinamidæ.
(Tinamous.)
The Family of the Tinamous is peculiar to the warmer parts of the world. They are intermediate in form between the Partridges and the Bustards, having the long neck and legs and small feet of the latter, and the nostrils covered with a naked scale, like the Pheasants. The beak varies in length; the wings are short, and the tail and the hind toe rudimentary.[6] In some the joint of this toe with its claw is just perceptible as a little tubercle; but in others it is altogether lost.
Most of the species, which are indeed extremely few in number, inhabit the immense grassy plains of South America, where they seem to represent the Partridges and Quails of the Old World. With scarcely any tail, and with very thick bodies, their whole appearance reminds the observer of a Bustard in miniature. They are easily caught by a man on horseback, as they exhibit little sagacity in avoiding danger. "As for their flesh," says Mr. Swainson, "we have often tasted it, and consider it both in whiteness and flavour, infinitely above that of the Partridge or Pheasant. We believe these birds never perch, as some suppose, but that they live entirely among herbage, principally in the more open tracts of the interior."
There is, however, one genus found in the sandy regions of the Old World, and which has, at least on one occasion, visited this country. We select this as an illustration of the Family.
Genus Turnix. (Bonn.)
The characters of this genus, as given by Mr. Gould in his magnificent work, " The Birds of Europe," are these: The beak moderate, slender, very compressed; the culmen elevated, and curved towards the point. Nostrils lateral, linear, longitudinally cleft, partly closed by a membrane. Tarsus rather long. Toes three before, entirely divided; no posterior toe. Tail composed of weak yielding feathers clustered together, and concealed by the feathers of the back. Wings moderate, the first quill-feather the longest.
The species composing this genus principally inhabit the countries which surround the Indian Ocean, from the Cape of Good Hope to Australia: they run among grass, where also they make their nests; but they fly with ease and rapidity. The males are considerably smaller than the females. The Andalusian Hemipode (Turnix tachydromus, Gould) is found in Spain, and the northern parts of Africa. It is scarcely larger than a lark; of a yellowish brown hue, variously spotted and barred with chestnut, black, and white; the under parts yellowish white.
ANDALUSIAN TURNIX.
Two specimens of this very rare bird were shot in Oxfordshire, about the end of October, 1844, in a field of barley, some grains of which were found in the stomach, with other seeds. Mr. Gould considers this one of the most interesting additions to British Zoology that has been made for many years.