Page:Natural History, Birds.djvu/240

 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."

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, .) 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,