THE RED-NECKED PHEASANTS.
The RED-NECKED PHEASANTS (Pternistes rubricollis) are principally of a pale greyish brown, almost all the feathers, except those on the head, being decorated with a triangular yellowish white spot, and edged with white. The primary quills are black, bordered with yellow on the outer, and spotted with the same shade on the inner web; the tail-feathers are irregularly striped with yellow and brown. The eye is light brown, the bare circle that surrounds it cinnabar-red; a patch upon the throat is yellow, edged and spotted with black; the beak deep brownish grey, with red base and nostrils; the foot dark brownish grey. The male is sixteen inches long and twenty-five broad; his wing measures seven inches and two-thirds, and the tail four inches; the female is an inch and a half shorter and one inch narrower than her mate.
As far as has been at present ascertained, the habitat of this species extends over all the low-lying country near the African coast, from the northern boundary of Abyssinia to Somali; we have never seen it upon mountains, although it occasionally frequents their immediate vicinity. The Red-necked Pheasant, like other Francolins, is extremely shy, and if disturbed runs with great quickness to a place of security, and only when very hard pressed employs its wings. Its flight is noisy but light, and resembles that of the Lyrurus tetrix; upon the ground, however, it is far more at home than in the air, running over its surface with almost incredible ease and rapidity. Like its congeners, this species has but one mate, and lives on excellent terms with its companions, as several pairs and their young usually keep together, forming small parties. In spite of this usually peaceful mode of life, the males, like the rest of their kind, occasionally indulge in regular pitched battles. Their cry is very similar to that of the Partridge; about April or May the males become much excited, and may be heard calling almost incessantly during the evening hours. A nest found by Brehm in a thick, dark bush near the ground, was formed of leaves and feathers, and contained within its deep walls, six pure white eggs, closely resembling those of a Domestic Fowl. "My attention," he tells us, "was attracted to the nest in the first instance by the movements of the hen, who ran out of the bush at my approach, and placing herself in an open space near me, spread and beat her wings, and by her cries endeavoured to lure me from the spot. I carefully marked the bush that contained the brood and at once pretended to follow the anxious mother, who, after leading me some five hundred paces, suddenly rose and flew back to her home in a series of large curves quite after the manner of the rest of her congeners. The cock was not to be seen, but no doubt was in the immediate vicinity." The flesh of this species is much esteemed, and large numbers are snared for the table. In many European houses it is to be seen caged, yet, though it endures captivity well, it never becomes really tame.
The AMERICAN PARTRIDGES (Odontophori) are delicately-framed birds, possessing a short high beak, compressed at its sides, high, much arched, and furnished at its margin with two strong, tooth-like projections. The moderately long tail is composed of twelve feathers, the external of which are frequently much shortened; the fourth, fifth, and sixth quills of the very decidedly-rounded wings exceed the rest in length; the tarsi are high, without a spur, but the toes are long and furnished with long, sharp claws. The thick plumage is more or less brilliantly coloured and always beautifully marked; some species have a bare patch around the eye. All the members of this group are strictly American, and by far the greater number of them are natives of that portion of the continent lying between 30° north latitude and the equator. Four species are now included in the fauna of North America, and four have been discovered in Brazil; some few extend their range to the larger of the West Indian Islands, and several others inhabit the vast mountain ranges of the Andes.
The American Partridges form a large and well-defined group, distinguishable from the Partridges and Quails of the Old World by the absence of any spur, or spur-like appendage on the tarsi, and by the tooth-like processes in the upper mandible. They are pugnacious in their disposition, seem arboreal in their habits, and deposit their eggs in a depression of the ground or in a very inartificial nest. Their food consists of seeds, berries, fruits, and the tender leaves of grass and other vegetables. Their flesh is white, tender, and well flavoured. In the morning and evening twilight they perch on a low branch near each other, when the males frequently give utterance to their cries, which reverberate through the forest to a great distance. If alarmed when on the ground, they usually hasten to some neighbouring branch, along which they run, and crouching down conceal themselves amongst the foliage.
The female lays from eight to fifteen eggs.
THE CAPUEIRA PARTRIDGE.
The CAPUEIRA PARTRIDGE (Odontophorus dentatus), the largest species of the entire family, represents a group of powerfully-built birds, with comparatively long necks and moderate-sized heads, their short tail, rounded at its extremity, is formed of soft feathers; the short, decidedly-rounded wing has its fifth and sixth quills longer than the rest; the strong, hooked beak is compressed at its sides, and has the high upper mandible much vaulted; the margins of the lower mandible are furnished with two well-defined tooth-like appendages. The tarsi are high, the toes long, armed with sharply-pointed hooked claws, and protected by large horny scales. The plumage, which is alike in the two sexes, is prolonged into a crest on the head; the eye is surrounded by a broad, brightly-coloured skin. This species is yellowish brown on the nape, back, wings, and tail; the crown of the head is brown, and a cheek-stripe that extends to the nape is reddish yellow, dotted with a lighter shade: the feathers on the throat and upper portion of the back are spotted with brown and black, and striped with yellow; those on the shoulders have a large black triangular patch on the inner web. The feathers of the wing-covers have a pale, yellow, heart-shaped spot at their tip, whilst the lower shoulder-feathers and exterior secondaries are edged with reddish yellow on the inner web, and streaked with black, the centre part of each being also varied with reddish grey and brown. The brown primary quills have the outer web dotted with white, and the shaft grey; the secondaries are marked with reddish yellow on the outer web. All the feathers on the hinder parts of the body and tail are of mottled reddish yellow in the centre, with a pale yellow border, and a black spot at the tip; those on the under side are slate-grey, edged with brown. The eye is brown, the bare ring that surrounds it deep flesh-red, the beak black, and the foot greyish red. The female is of paler hue, and the young show more reddish brown in their plumage than the adult male. The length of the body is sixteen inches and a half, the wing measures three inches and a half, and the tail three inches.
This bird is found in suitable localities in most parts of Brazil, from the Rio de la Plata to the Amazon. We are indebted to the Prince of Wied for what we know of its life and habits.