speaking of touracos, (Corythaix,) that group was regarded as having features which allied it to the birds now before us; and if we examine the shape of the bill, the general contour of the body, the shortness of the wings, and the length and breadth of the tail, this similarity will be very apparent. The touracos approach also in their manners to the curassows; in short, they are their zygodactylous representatives.

The Curassows are birds approaching (many of them at least) our turkey in magnitude; they are natives of South America; the tail is ample, and composed of twelve large stiff feathers. In several species the trachea (windpipe) is singularly convoluted before it enters the chest. They live in woods, and feed on berries and various kinds of fruit, grain, &c. They are remarkable for tameness, and are very easily domesticated. Indeed, as a talented writer observes, "in many parts of South America they 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 shown 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 the results of much labour lost by its complete dispersion. "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."

The Curassows are subdivided into several subordinate

groups; they may, however, on a broad survey, be resolved into Curassows, properly so called, and Guans or Yacows.

The Curassows (Crax, LIN.) are characterized by a strong deep beak, having the upper mandible curved and vaulted from the base to the point; at the base is a cere or naked skin, often brilliantly tinted, in which the nostrils are situated. Their head is ornamented with long curled feathers, forming a graceful crest. An example of this section is the CRESTED CURASSow (Crax Alector, LIN.) This beautiful bird, in its wild state, is found in

Mexico, Guiana, Brazil, and other parts of South America, abounding in large flocks in the forests. Perched upon the tallest trees, they betray no uneasiness when man invades their haunts, nor indeed offer to escape by flight, on seeing their number thinned by the gun; but, as if unaware of danger, remain stationary upon their perch. The hunter and the colonist alike prize them as food; hence they are seldom to be met with in the immediate neighbourhood of settlements or villages, unless of very recent

establishment. In the mighty woods of Guiana, they are, according to Sonnini, so numerous as to constitute the never-failing resource of the traveller, whose stock of provisions may be exhausted. They are said to breed during the rainy season, building the nest (which is placed on the topmost branches of trees) of sticks and twigs, interwoven with coarse vegetable fibres, and lined with leaves; the eggs are six or eight in number, and white, like those of a fowl, but much larger. In size the Crested Curassow is little inferior to a turkey; the general colour above is a rich black with a gloss of green; the parts beneath are dull white. The feathers of the crest are about three inches in length, curled forwards, and are velvety in appearance; they are capable of being elevated or depressed at will. The cere at the base of the bill, from which a naked skin stretches around the eyes, is bright yellow.

This species is common in a domestic state in the Dutch settlements of Berbice, Essequibo, Demerara, and elsewhere, breeding freely and requiring little care. In our country, where it is kept in aviaries, it suffers, as do the rest of the group, from exposure to wet or damp, which occasions mortification and consequent loss of the toes; so that it is rare to see a Curassow, even in the well ordered gardens of the Zoological Society, which is not more or less mutilated. A dry gravelly soil, with trees on which to perch, with plenty of room and sufficient shelter, are essential to success in the endeavour to naturalize the race.

Besides the Crested Curassow, we may enumerate the RED CURASSOW, (Crax rubra,) the RED-KNOBBED CURASSOW, (Crax Yarrelli, BEN.) the RAZOR-billed CURASSOW, (Crax mitu,) and the GALEATED Curassow, (Crax Pauxi.) The two latter birds have been separated by Cuvier into a genus termed Ourax, upon very slight differences in the character of the beak.

The Guans or Yacous (Penelope, MERR.) are distinguished from the true Curassows by a more slender form of bill, with the nostrils placed nearly in the centre,

and by a naked skin which hangs down beneath the throat, and is capable of considerable distention. A naked space also surrounds the eyes; the toes are strong, and furnished with stout claws; the tail is flat and ample.

Our example is the GUAN (Penelope cristata.) With few exceptions, the manners of the Guan are precisely

those of the Curassow; it is easily domesticated, and its flesh is accounted excellent. It does not, however, often congregate in flocks, but dwells in the forest usually with its mate alone, pairing with strict constancy. native of Guiana and Brazil.

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The windpipe of this bird is remarkable for the loop it forms on the breast below the skin, before it enters the cavity of the chest; this circuitous course, and the consequent elongation of the tube, renders its voice (which resembles the word yacou) loud and sonorous, so that the woods have been heard reechoing with its note.

In size the Guan equals a fowl, but is longer, measuring thirty inches, the tail being fourteen. The whole of the upper surface is of dusky brownish black, with a gloss of olive green. The head is surmounted with a tufted crest. The naked skin of the throat is bright scarlet; the naked cheeks purplish. The chest is regularly spotted with dashes of white, on a dusky brown ground, which is the colour of the under surface. The female has a universal tinge of reddish, but in other respects the plumage resembles that of the male.

From the Curassows we pass to the Turkeys, (Meleagris,) a genus of which two species only are known to exist; one the wild origin of the domestic race, the other the Honduras Turkey, a bird as rare as it is beautiful. The characters of this genus consist in the top of the head and the greater portion of the neck being destitute of feathers, the skin being carunculated and changeable in its colours. In the males, a long tuft of coarse hair hangs from the chest; the beak is stout; the tail broad; the tarsi furnished with a short blunt spur.

The COMMON TURKEY (Meleagris Gallo-pavo, LIN.) now so abundantly bred in our poultry-yards, of which it is one of the greatest ornaments, is originally from America, whence it appears to have been imported into Europe in the early part of the sixteenth century; though it must be confessed that nothing detailed or satisfactory respecting its introduction is known. In this respect, however, the Turkey is not singular, as the case applies to most of our domestic animals; yet, when we consider how recent is the date of its discovery, which probably long preceded any attempts at its domestication, we cannot but be surprised that its early history is involved in such obscurity. Indeed, the writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (and certainly not more than thirty years after its introduction) appear to have been so ignorant about it as to regard it as a bird with which the ancients were familiar, and to which they gave the name of Meleagris; and though with their descriptions of the meleagris it coincides