. The naturalist's library; containing scientific and popular descriptions of man, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, reptiles and insects; . l fall upon, kill, and devour it. THE GOLDEN PHEASANT.! Of all the species of pheasants which are met with in our preserves anain our aviaries, the golden pheasant is the rarest and the most male bird, when in perfect plumage, measures nearly three feet inlength, of which the tail alone forms about two thirds. The feathers of thefore part of the head are very long, silky, and of a bright yellow; and con-siderably overhang those of the hinder part,
. The naturalist's library; containing scientific and popular descriptions of man, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, reptiles and insects; . l fall upon, kill, and devour it. THE GOLDEN PHEASANT.! Of all the species of pheasants which are met with in our preserves anain our aviaries, the golden pheasant is the rarest and the most male bird, when in perfect plumage, measures nearly three feet inlength, of which the tail alone forms about two thirds. The feathers of thefore part of the head are very long, silky, and of a bright yellow; and con-siderably overhang those of the hinder part, which are of a brilliant orange,marked with transverse black rays. These last are elongated and extended 1 Phasiamis /nrfus,LiN. 75 50* 594 AVES—WILD TURKEY. backwards over the sides of the neck, and may be raised or depressed at few minute hairs are scattered over the cheeks, which are of a livid com-plexion. The feathers of the back of the neck are tinged with a mixture ofgreen and gold and bordered with black, those of the back and the upper tail-coverts are bright yellow, the latter terminating in a crimson These magnificent birds are natives of Chin*; and it was warmly main-tained by Buffon, in accordance with his theory of the degeneration of ani-mals, that they were merely a variety of the common pheasant, which hasassumed a more splendid plumage, in consequence of the superior finenessof the climate in which they dwelt. Unfortunately for this hypothesis, thecommon pheasant is also widely spread throughout the same region, inwhich it preserves all the characters by which it is distinguished in Europe,and never produces in its wild state a mixed breed with its supposed naturalist since Buffon has imagined such a transformation possible. THE WILD TURKEY.* This elegant bird is the original stock from which all the common domes-tic turkeys have been produced. It is a native of America, and is found inall the western parts of the United States and
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookidnaturalistsl, bookyear1851
