Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 15, NIC-PAR

Grsllir.
62i
’orzana.
623
User.
624
mllith
625
SOPHIA.
626
made 6t sedge and coarse grass among the thickest aqua
J tic plants, or in willow beds. The female lays six or
more eggs, rather larger than those of a blackbird, very
smooth, and of a pure white. This bird continues with
us all the year, and by many is erroneously believed to
be the land rail metamorphosed in tlte autumn, without
knowing perhaps that the latter leaves this country at
that season, and that the difference of the bills alone
constitutes an essential distinction.
Spotted gallinule, or spotted water-hen.—Two middle
tail feathers edged with white j bill and legs pale olive j
bill greenish -yellow ; irides hazel ; head brown, spot¬
ted with black 3 line over the eyes pale gray 3 neck
above, and flanks brown-ash, with small white spots j
back and wing-coverts olive, with black stripes, and
near the edges of the feathers with white spots; the
greater with white stripes and lines; cheeks, chin, and
throat, pale gray, with brown spots j breast brown, with
white spots 3 belly varied w ith cinereous and white 3
vent ochre-yellow. The weight of this elegant species
is about four ounces 5 length nine inches. Inhabits
Europe and North America 3 is migrative and scarce in
England, and seems to have the manners and habits of
the preceding.
Black raf/ —-Black 3 bill red at the base, brown at
the tip 3 legs brown or red. Nine inches long. Inha¬
bits Africa.
Dwarf rail.—Stripped with ferruginous and black ;
body black beneath, with narrow white bands 3 throat
and breast bluish. Size of a lark. Inhabits near the
salt lakes of Dunria.
ORNITHOLbGY.
627
vpitans.
Gen. 64. PsoPHlA, Trumpeter.
haracters. bin cylindrical, conical, convex, somewhat pointed 3
the upper mandible longest 3 nostrils oval and pervi¬
ous 3 tongue cartilaginous, flat, and fringed at tire
tip ; feet four-toed and cleft.
Gold-breasted trumpeter.—Black 3 back gray 3 breast
glossy-green 3 orbits naked, red 3 bill yellowish-greeny
legs strong, tall, brownish ash or green 3 the back toe
a round protuberance beneath, at a little distance from
the ground 3 tail very short 3 feathers of the head downy 3
of the lower part of the neck squamiform 3 of the shoul¬
ders ferruginous, lax, pendulous, and silky 3 scapulars
long and hanging. The agatni of voyagers and others.
Nearly 22 inches long, and about the size of the com¬
mon domestic fowl. Inhabits South America, particu¬
larly the interior of Guiana, in considerable troops. In
its native haunts is not distrustful of man, and is suscep¬
tible of domestication in an eminent degree, acquiring
many ol the social habitudes of the dog. It emits from
the lungs a harsh and uncommon noise, not unlike that
of a child’s trumpet. It stands on one leg, and sleeps
with its neck drawn in between the shoulders.
Undulated or African trumpeter.—Crest of the hind
head short, whitish 3 that of the breast long, black, and
pendent. Size of a goose. Inhabits Africa.
628
ululata.
• 629
| 'laiNjE,
, Order V. GALLINJE.
<>3°
a|acters. Bill convex 5 the upper mandible arched and di¬
lated at the edge over the lower 3 nostrils half-co¬
vered with a convex cartilaginous membrane 3 tail fea¬
thers more than 12 ; feet cleft, but connected at the
Vol. XV. Part II. f
innermost joint ; claws broad 3 toes scabrous below,
and formed for scratching up the ground. In most
species the males have spurs on the legs. They live
chiefly on the seeds of plants, but likewise eat insects,
grubs, and worms, which are macerated in their crop.
They are polygamotis, and build rude nests, for the
most part, on the bare ground, the female laying many
eggs at a time. They collect their young about them
by a particular cry when they feed them, and lead and
protect them till they moult. They are easily tamed,
and are useful on account of their flesh, their esss. and
their feathers. 56
Gen. 6s- Otis, Bustard.
63*
Otis.
632
Bill somewhat convex 3 nostrils oval and pervious 5 Characters,
tongue bifid, pointed; feet formed for running; three¬
toed ; tall; naked above the thighs.
Great bustard.—W*ve spotted, with black and m-
ferns 3 whitish beneath 5 head (of the male) and each
side of the throat crested ; head and tteck cinereous 3
quill feathers black 3 tail with rufous and black lines,
and from 18 to 20 feathers ; pouch beginning undef
the tongue, and reaching to the breast; long, capa¬
cious, and fit to hold near seven quarts of water 3 legs
dusky. The male weighs from 20 to 30 pounds, and
the female about 10 or 123 length about four feet.
Inhabits the open plains of Europe, Asia, and Africa
It is the largest ol British birds, and is now almost ex¬
tinct in our island. It makes no nest, but the female
lays her eggs in some hole in the ground, in a dry corn
field. The eggs are two io.number, as big as those of a
goose, and of a pale olive-brown, marked with spots of a
deeper colour. If during her absence from the nest,
any one handles, or even breathes on the eggs, she im¬
mediately abandons them. Bustards feed on green
corn, the tops ot turnips, and various other vegetables,
as well as on worms 3 and they have also been known to
eat frogs, mice, and young birds of the smaller kind,
which they swallow whole. They are remarkably shy
and timid, carefully avoiding mankind, and being ea¬
sily driven away in whole herds by the smallest dog.
I hey are slow in taking wing, but run with great ra¬
pidity 3 and the young are even sometimes coursed and
taken by greyhounds. T hough not properly migratory,
they leave their usual haunts in very severe winters,
when the downs are covered for any length of time rvith
snow, and repair to the more inclosed and sheltered
situations in small flocks, and even stray to a great di¬
stance. In the Crimea they are seen in large flights,
especially during winter, when the wings and crop fea¬
thers are sometimes so encumbered with ice, that the
bird is unable, in the snow, to take the run previous to
»n consequence of which many are caught by the
hand, or by means of dogs, and brought to market a-
live. The flesh, particularly of the young, when kept
a little time, is excellent. £34
Arabian bustard.—Ears with erect crests. Size
the preceding. Inhabits Asia and Africa. 635
Little bustard, or field duck.—Headandthroatsmooth 3 Tctrax*>
bill gray-brown; crown black, with rufous bands 3
temples and chin reddish white, with small dark spots 3
neck (of the male) black, with a white collar 3 body
above varied with black* rufous, and white 3 beneath
3 X, and