The natural history of game-birds. Illustrated by thirty-one plates, coloured; with memoir and portrait of Sir T. Stamford Raffles

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THE

NATURAL HISTORY

OF

GAME-BIRDS.

ILLUSTRATED BY THIRTY-ONE PLATES, COLOURED ',

WITH MEMOIR AND PORTRAIT OF

SIR T. STAMFORD RAFFLES.

SIR WILLIAM JARDINE, BART.

F.R.S.E., F.L.S., ETC. ETC.

EDINBUEGH:

W. H. LLZARS, 3, ST. JAMES' SQUARE ;
HIGHLEY, 32, FLEET STREET, LONDON ; AND
W. CURRY, JUN., AND CO., DUBLIN.

1844.

BIOLOGY

LIBRARY

G

PRINTED BY W. H. LIZAUS, EDINBURGH.

CONTENTS

OF

^
VOLUME FOURTH.

PAGE

MEMOIR OF SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES, . 1 7
Natural History of Gallinaceous Birds, . . 89

Tetraonidae or Grouse.

Genus PERDIX, 93

The Common Partridge.

Perdix cinerea, var. montana. Plate I. . 95
The Mountain Partridge.

Perdix cinerea. Plate II. . . . 101

The Painted Partridge.

Perdix picta. Plate III. ... 103

The Rock or Barbary Partridge.

Perdix petrosa. Plate IV. . . .105
The Chukar Partridge.

Perdix cliukar. Plate V. . . .107

The Common Francolin.

Perdix Francolinus. Plate VI. . . 110

The Sanguine Partridge.

Perdix cruentata. Plate VII. . . . 11 2
The Coromandel Quail.

Coturnix textilis. Plate VIII. . . 116

CONTENTS.

I
The Common Quail.

Coturnix Dactylisonans, ....
Latrei lie's Attagis.

Attagis Latreillei. Plate IX. ,
The Virginian Quail or Partridge.

Ortyx Virginianus. Plate X. . •
The Californian Ortyx.

Ortyx Catifornica. Plate XI.
The Long-tailed Ortyx.

Ortyx macroura. Plate XII. .

GROUSE,

The Wood Grouse or Capercailzie.

Tetrao urogallus. Plate XIII.
The Canadian Grouse.

Tetrao Canadensis. Plate XV.
The Ruffed Grouse.

Tetrao umbellus. Plate XIV. .
The Pinnated Grouse.

Tetrao cupido, • • • • .

The Sharp- Tailed Grouse.

Centrocercus phasianellus. Plate XVI.* .
The Cock of the Plains.

Centrocercus urophasianus* Plate XVII.

GROUSE- PTARMIGAN,

The Red Grouse- Ptarmigan.

Lagopus Scoticus. Plate XVIII.
The Common Ptarmigan.

Lagopus mutus. Plate XIX. Plumage of Win-
ter.— XX. Young, ....
The Common Black Grouse.

Lyrurus tetrix. Plate XXI. Male — XXII.
Female ......

CONTENTS

PAGE

Pallas's Sand Grouse.

Syrrhaptes Pallasii. Plate XXIII. . . 182
The Banded Sand Grouse.

Pterodes arenarius. Plate XXIV. Female. —

XXV. Male, 184

The Crowned Cryptonix.

Cryptonix coronata. Plate XXVI. . . 187
The White- Spotted Ortygis,

Ortygis Meiffrenii. Plate XXVII. . . 189
Black-Necked Ortygis.

Ortygis nigricollis. Plate XXVIII. . . 191
The Guazu.

Crypturus rufescens. Plate XXIX. . . 193
The Tataupa.

Crypturus tataupa. Plate XXX. . . 195

PORTRAIT OP SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES, . 2
Vignette Title-page. Red Grouse, Male, Female, and

Young, ....... 3

In all Thirty-two Plates in this Volume.

MEMOIR

OF

SIR THOMAS-HST^feMFRD RAFFLES.*

THE intention of these necessarily short memoirs
being to sketch the character, and detail the labours,
of those men who have advanced the science of Na-
tural History, some passages will not be deemed in-
appropriate, which have been collected from the ca-
reer of one, whose zeal for the advancement of this
study was ever shewn, when a short leisure from
the more important administration of his public duties
would allow ; and to whom the British Naturalist is
indebted for a Zoological establishment, which has
already rivalled the utility, and emulated the magni-
ficence, of the Continental institutions.

The name of SirT. STAMFORD RAFFLES is inti-
mately connected with the political history of the
East, and it is no less so with that of its natural pro-

* We are indebted to the kindness of Lady Raffles for
permission to copy the portrait,. from a bust by Chantrey,
which accompanies her interesting history o^ the Life and
public services of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles.

VOL. VIII. B

18 MEMOIR OF

ductioj*» It will now be our endeavour to review
his discoveries and researches in the Natural History
of these interesting countries, separated as far as
possible from the details of his arduous and import-
ant public services. For this purpose we have been
indebted chiefly to the interesting volume, published
some years since under the superintendence of his
amiable widow, and which has furnished those parts
introduced from his correspondence, with the de-
scriptions of his excursions in the interior of Suma-
tra ; while the History of Java, and the various papers
which Sir Thomas has himself published, have af-
forded materials for the other parts. In the progress
of the sketch it will be seen that the researches of
this naturalist were not confined to one branch of
the science, but that every department, both of the
history of the inhabitants of those islands, and their
natural productions, were carefully studied. We
have alluded to the different objects introduced, with-
out any system or arrangement but as they seemed
to have occurred to the notice of the individual.
Some of them are well known by his own descrip-
tions, or illustrate the beautiful works of his friends
and companions in research and administration* ; and
but for the awful and overwhelming catastrophe
which occurred on the eve of his departure, many
an unknown production of that rich archipelago
would have assisted in the embellishment of the
extensive works which he contemplated. Having

« Horsfield, Wallich, &c.

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 19

thus detailed our plan, we have, before commencing,
to entreat those friends by whom this imperfect
sketch may be seen, that they will forgive any inac-
curacies or misrepresentations; nor attribute to any
motive except that of doing justice, whatever may be
said of the character of an individual, whose writings
had conveyed a very high impression, which was still
farther confirmed by a short but lively remembered
intercourse, for a few months previous to his untimely
decease.

THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES, the son of Ben-
jamin Raffles, one of the oldest Captains in the West
India Trade, was born at sea on the 5th July 1781,
off the harbour of Port Morant, in the Island of Ja-
maica. Little appears to be known of his family
except its antiquity, and that its earlier members
passed through life with unblemished reputation.
Of his youth previous to the age of fourteen, when
he entered into active business, few traits seem to
have been recollected, beyond a sedateness of tem-
per, and perseverance in his studies superior to that
of his schoolfellows, with a vivid apprehension of the
incidents which occurred. During this period he
studied under the charge of Dr Anderson, who kept
a respectable academy near Hammersmith ; and, at
the early age we have mentioned, he was placed as
an extra clerk in the East India House.

When we consider the very short portion of his
early life, wherein he could regularly gain the rudi-

20 MEMOIR OF

ments of a common education, we must be surprised
at the variety of acquirements which he afterwards
displayed, or rather, perhaps, at the industry by
which they were attained. During his sedentary
occupation as a clerk, he employed his leisure in at-
tending to several branches of literature, and he ob-
tained a tolerable knowledge of French, which a re-
tentive memory enabled him to retain, and after-
wards to use with much advantage, in his various
duties of diplomacy. His power of acquiring lan-
guages was great, and in his after engagements gave
him advantages and influence over the native powers
of the East, which could not have been obtained un-
less by a free intercourse, and which a knowledge of
their language could only give.

This very close application to business and study,
however, excited symptoms of disease in a frame and
constitution never very robust, and alarmed his
friends for his health. Relaxation was recommend-
ed, and he employed a short leave of absence, by
making a pedestrian excursion through Wales, which .
while it gave him renewed strength, gave him also
information of the mining districts, which was after-
wards of advantage to his researches in Java.

It would scarcely have been expected that a young
man, placed in so apparently friendless a situation,
should have made to himself patrons. A friend had,
however, marked him and upon the occurrence of a
vacancy in the establishment of the East India House,
the appointment was given to the young and studi-

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 21

cms Raffles, in preference to many who were thought
at least to have possessed more interest. In 1805
the Directors determined upon sending out an esta-
blishment to Penang ; and Mr Ramsay, then secre-
tary, having observed his talents for diplomacy, his
application, and his quickness, recommended him to
the office of assistant secretary. In September fol-
lowing Mr Raffles first set foot in the East, the
theatre in which his acquirements and industry were
to be shown forth. During the voyage out he had
nearly mastered the Malayan language; and, from the
.llness of the secretary, he was at once obliged to en-
ter upon all the duties and difficulties of his office, a
task of great responsibility, but which he executed
to the satisfaction of his employers.

The great exertions and application necessary to
carry on the duties of the government, with the
effects of the climate on a constitution not yet
inured to it, were too much for Mr Raffles, and he
was thrown into bad health, and an illness so seri-
ous, that relaxation and change of air to Malacca
were recommended. Hence his anxiety to benefit
the government brought him back almost before he
was able to undergo fatigue. He made the voyage
in the long boat of an Indiaman, and again reached
Penang in time to send off despatches, and to for-
ward many objects which could scarcely* have been
accomplished without him.

While at Malacca he first saw and mixed with
the varied population of the Eastern Archipelago,

22 MEMOIR OF

heard the dialects, and became interested in their
origin ; and to this singularity and variety may be at-
trib ited the first desire to investigate the history and
antiquities of this people. In these pursuits he was as-
sisted by the researches which now occupied Mr
Marsden, whose constant application upon the occur-
rence of difficulties, and innumerable queries, forced
and kept up the interest of a subject to which he
was already deeply attached. It was at Malacca,
also, where he first gained the acquaintance and
friendship of Dr Leyden.

About this period the affairs of the East were in
considerable confusion. The conquest of Java was
contemplated, and there was little time to be spared
for the pursuits of literature, researches into the an-
tiquities of the country, or into its natural history.
The stolen moments which could be spared, were,
however, all devoted to these studies, and the very
information which was to be acquired in forwarding
the objects of the government, increased his know-
ledge, and laid the basis for many of his after disco-
veries As, however, we wish to avoid the details
of hk political career, we shall pass over the period
until the capture of Java ; suffice it to say, that he
exhibited as much perseverance and presence of mind
in the diplomatist and soldier, as he had before in
the more peaceful researches of antiquities and lite-
rature.

The capture of Java was terminated in 1811, and
by all, much of the merit of planning and conduct-

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 23

ing the expedition is attributed to Mr Raffles. The
services which he had performed were so highly
judged of by Lord Minto, — the performance of any
trust to be reposed in him was so confidently anti-
cipated— that he at once appointed Mr Raffles
Lieutenant-Governor of Java and its dependencies.
" The charge was of the most extensive, arduous,
and responsible nature, comprising on the island of
Java alone, a population of six millions, divided in-
to thirty-six residencies, under powerful chiefs, who
had long been desirous of throwing off the European
yoke, and who were by no means disposed to sub-
mit quietly to the rule of their new governors."

Lord Minto remained in the island for six weeks
superintending the new arrangements, after whicn
the whole charges were resigned to the care of Mr
Raffles, who now removed to Buitenzorg, the seat
of government, distant from Batavia about forty
miles. For some time his cares and duties were so
heavy, that every moment was required for their
fulfilment, but ere long the pursuits of natural history
and antiquities began to fill his moments of leisure.
In a letter to his first and old friend Mr Ramsay,
written in the same year with his establishment in
the government, after mentioning the surmounting of
several difficulties, he says, " By the next oppor-
tunity I shall have the satisfaction of forwarding to
the authorities in England, several reports from Dr
Horsfield, and other scientific gentlemen, on the
natural history of the island ; and as the Batavian

24 MEMOIR OF

Literary Society have solicited that I should take
that institution under the protection of government,
I trust that by uniting our efforts with those of the
Asiatic Society in Bengal, very considerable light
may be shortly thrown on science and general know-
ledge. The numerous remains of Brahminical struc-
tures in every part of the island, prove beyond a
doubt, that a colony of Hindus settled on this island
about the first century of the Christian era ; and
the materials of which they are constructed, induce
the belief that this colony must have emigrated from
the Coromandel coast. The beauty and purity of
these structures are entirely divested of that redun-
dancy of awkward and uncouth ornaments and sym-
ools which are found in India." His time was thus
constantly occupied either in official employments or
literary researches. In the latter he was assisted by
the talents of Dr Horsfield, and together they ac-
complished one of the most important measures for
promoting their researches, — the re-establishrnent of
the Society of Arts at Batavia, of which Mr Raffles
was appointed president. This had been the first
Eastern Literary Society established by Europeans,
and under his fostering care it revived, and was of
much consequence to the history of these countries,
during the few short years which they remained
under the sway of the British arms, and the superin-
tendence of an active and enlightened governor.

A short notice of the rise of a society of such
consequence in the East, arid so intimately connect-

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 25

ed with the history of its natural productions, may
not here be misplaced, particularly as we are obliged
for it to the address of its President upon his first
instalment in office after its re-establishment. u Pre-
vious to the establishment of the Batavian Society,
Mr Kadermacher, a gentleman of distinguished ta-
lents, and a zealous promoter of the Christian reli-
gion and of science, with a few friends of Batavia,
conceived the idea of assembling together a number
of persons of consideration and ability, with the view
of encouraging the arts and sciences in this capital,
and the other Indian establishments then dependent
on Holland. They considered that in India, as in
Europe, where for two centuries the reformation in
letters preceded that in religion, a taste for the arts
and sciences must be introduced previously to the
general adoption of the Christian religion in the East ;
but they were aware of the difficulties to be en-
countered, under the circumstances in which the
colonies of Holland were then placed, and a con-
siderable period elapsed before the design was car-
ried into effect.

<c At length, in the year 1777, when Mr Kader-
macher and his father-in-law, the Governor-General
de Klerk, were newly elected directors of the Haer-
lem Society, a programme appeared, which contained
the plan of extending the branches of that Society
to the Indies. The distance and extent of the
Dutch colonial possessions in the East did not, how-
ever, admit of this plan being realized ; but the idea

26 MEMOIR OF

being thus brought forward to public notice, a se-
parate society was formed, by the unremitting perse-
verance of Mr Kadermacher, who may be called the
founder of the institution established at Batavia.

" On the 24th of April 1778, this society was duly
established, under the authority of Government, and,
after the example of Haerlem, took for its motto,
' The public utility' On its first organization, the
Society consisted of 192 members, the Governor-
General being chief director, and members of the
High Regency directors. The Society selected as
objects of research and inquiry, whatever could be
useful to agriculture, commerce, and the welfare of
the colony; it encouraged every question relating to
natural history, antiquities, and the manners and
usages of the native inhabitants : and in order the
better to define the objects and contribute to their
accomplishment, a programme was from time to time
printed and circulated abroad."

The Society was no sooner fully established, and
its proceedings generally known, than it received
from all quarters various acquisitions to its cabinet
and library. Mr Kadermacher himself presented
the Society with a convenient house, and eight cases
of valuable books, &c. ; and by the liberality of Mr
Bartto, it was enabled to form a botanical establish-
ment, in a garden presented by that gentleman. In
1779 the first volume of transactions was printed,
in 1780 the second, and the third in 1781 ; and be-
fore 1792 six volumes had appeared. At this pe-

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 27

riod the revolutions and war in Europe interfered
with the interests of the Society ; it was found im-
practicable to complete the seventh volume, and it
was suggested that, by adopting a more limited mode
of proceeding, the views of the Society might still be
forwarded. The Society was placed under this new
organization in 1800, and continued in this state
until the change of government in 1811, when its
interests were again actively taken up, in the man-
ner we have just seen, by Mr Raffles.

In each succeeding year a new address was de-
livered by the president, giving a review and account
of the progress of the different inquiries which had
come under the notice of the Society, and of disco*
veries which had been made. These all shew the
uncommon pains taken by Mr Raffles in promoting
its objects, but would occupy too much room in our
present sketch, and could not be done justice to by
mutilation.

During the last few years which the island of
Java remained in possession of the British, Mr
Raffles remained in much uncertainty, and often
felt considerable difficulties in giving his orders. It
was unknown whether the island was to be given
up to the Dutch, to be kept under the British crown,
or continue in the hands of the Company. In any
change, however, it was possible that Mr Raffles
might ie superseded and lose the advantages which
he was now reaping in his high and important situa-
tion. He was howevei prevented from suffering, by

28 MEMOIR OF

the kind attentions of his patron Lord Minto, wha
before leaving the East to his successor Lord Moira,
procured for him the residency of Fort Marlborough,
which gave him the chief rank at Bencoolen *. Before
his settlement, however, in this new residency, many
vicissitudes of his lot occurred, and we have particu-
larly to notice one incident, the first which had af-
fected or had appeared to place any blot upon the
bright character and fame of Mr Raffles.

Though at first intimate friends, and acting ap-
parently in concert for the interest of the Eastern
islands, some differences of opinion had existed
between Mr Raffles and General Gillespie ; and af-
ter the appointment of the former gentleman to the
governorship, the breach seems to have widened.
Some acts of administration were complained of,
which ended in specific charges being made by the
General to the Bengal Government, by whom they
were forwarded to Mr Raffles for reply. These
charges coming somewhat unexpectedly and per-
fectly unmeritedly, were deeply felt. Writing to Lord
Minto regarding their want of foundation, he says,
" My feelings of the injury I have sustained are not
the less acute that I have been denied the means of
knowing the charges, until all the influence of a
first arid ex-parte statement could be exerted, and the
current of public feeling allowed to flow unrestrained,
until the reports obtained an unmerited credit from
the very want of contradiction ;" but he adds, in con-

The Commander of the Troops at the reduction of Java.

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 29

fidence of his fidelity, " My cause, my honour, my
public reputation and private character are now be-
fore the supreme government, and I only ask a patient
hearing. Errors in judgment may be found in the
complicated administration with which I am en-
trusted ; measures of policy depend in a consider-
able degree on opinion, and there may be some dif-
ference of opinion perhaps, with regard to those
which have been adopted by this government ; but
the accusations against my moral character must
be determined by facts, and on this ground I will
challenge my accusers to produce any one act of
government, in which I have been actuated by cor-
rupt motives, or guided by views of sinister advan-
tage to myself."

In addition to the feelings of a character un-
deservedly attacked, were now added those of deep
affliction in the loss of his dearest connections.
Soon after the delivery of the charges, he suffered
a severe bereavement in the death of Mrs Raffles,
which was followed by the intelligence of the de-
cease of Lord Minto, to whom he might be said to
be indebted for all his worldly prosperity, besides the
free intercourse and sympathy of friendship. He
had, however, on receipt of the charges, and imme-
diately before these great losses, written out replies,
which, though they could not, after the institution of
the proceedings by General Gillespie, be taken as ex-
culpation, shewed plainly to his judges that little
was to be dreaded in Mr Raffles, from a double or

30 MEMOIR OF

deceitful government. But the afflictions which had
thus multiplied upon him, so affected his health that
a change of scene was necessary, and the tour of the
island was commenced with the view to his recovery,
and the employment of his mind in the examination
of various subjects in which he was much interested.
These exertions, however, though they occupied his
mind for the time, did not add to his health or ge-
neral strength, and he removed to Ciceroa in a more
upland district, in the hope that the purer air might
assist his constitution ; but here also the weakening
symptoms continued, and here it was that he heard
he was superseded in his government. In this act
he felt himself unjustly used, but he bore it with
firmness, and without experiencing the bad effects
which his medical advisers anticipated. These at-
tempts, by change of air and scene, to recover health
were, however, unavailing, and it was judged neces-
sary that he should return to England as the only
hope of restoring his constitution. This proposal
he would not listen to, until the arrival of the new
governor ; for he felt, that, however aggrieved he might
have been, his successor Mr Tindal had nothing to
do with it, and it was his duty to see every atten-
tion and honour paid to him upon his arrival. Per-
haps, also, feelings for the interests of his old friends
and companions in office had their sway, for his be-
nevolent disposition would have made any sacrifice
for those in whom he was interested, and whom he
knew deserved his assistance ; while his patriotic

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 31

love for Java, and desire for the welfare of the na-
tives, were points which assumed an interest of no
ordinary kind. He accordingly remained until the
arrival of Mr Tindal, introduced him to Buitenzorg,
to his own officers and staff, and to the most worthy
inhabitants in the island ; doing every thing in his
power to render the situation of his successor agree-
able, and to bend his views to the importance of the
prosperity and improvement of the natives. Ha-
ving done this, he resigned his office, and retired to
the house of Mr Cronsent with whom he remained
until his embarkation.

When it became known that Mr Raffles had de-
cided upon returning to England, the liveliest de-
monstrations of regret were exhibited by the popu-
lation, both European and native. Addresses were
presented, accompanied with substantial presents,
and a sincerity in their grief was shewn, which told
plainly that it was the language of their hearts. A
passage to England was engaged in the ship Ganges,
Captain Travers ; and, says his biographer, u On the
morning of Mr Raffles' embarkation, the roads of
Batavia were filled with boats, crowded with peo-
ple of various nations, all anxious to pay the last
tribute of respect within their power to one for
whom they entertained the most lively affection.
On reaching the vessel, he found the decks filled
with offerings of every description — fruit, flowers,
poultry, whatever they thought would promote his
comfort on the voyage. It is impossible to describe

32 MEMOIR OF

the scene which took place when the order was
given to weigh anchor ; the people felt that they had
lost the greatest friend whom Java ever possessed ;
and perhaps they anticipated, as too near, their rede-
livery to the Dutch power, and the consequently too
probable renewal of the scenes of misgovernment,
from which, under the administration of Mr Raffles,
they had been relieved for five years."

After a prosperous voyage, Mr Raffles reached
London, on the 16th July 1816, and next morning
reported himself to the Directors of the East India
House.

He immediately addressed the Directors, praying
for a revision of his services in Java, and a decision
upon the charges which had been brought against
him by General Gillespie ; but still an opinion upon
his government was refused, qualified, however, with
the expression of their conviction that they " had
sprung from motives perfectly correct." But not-
withstanding that they did not think it proper thus
publicly or officially to express their opinion of his
administration, in a short period he was rewarded
with as open an acknowledgment of it as could well
be made. It may be recollected that the residency
of Bencoolen had been secured to Mr Raffles by the
kindness of Lord Minto. The court of Directors,
on his departing again for the East, and upon his re-
gular instalment into his new office, thus expressed
themselves : — " The Directors, in consideration of
the zeal and talents displayed during the period he

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 33

filled the office of lieutenant-governor of Java, con-
ferred upon him the title of Lieutenant-governor of
Bencoolen, as a peculiar mark of the favourable sen-
timents which the court entertained of his merits
and services ;" and thus they washed away every im-
putation which could have previously affected his
character or administration.

During his residence in England, Mr Raffles
gained additional friends, and formed new attach-
ments ; he regained his former health, and early in
the year of his arrival married Sophia, the daughter
of Mr Hull, an Irish gentleman. His leisure was
occupied in writing his History of Java, of which we
shall afterwards speak ; and upon presenting it to his
Majesty George IV., (at that time Prince Regent),
he received the honour of knighthood. He visited
also the continent, and ever anxious for the welfare
of his favourite Java, which had now been given up
to the Dutch, he travelled through Holland, and
had several interviews with the Dutch king, hoping
to influence him in a line of administration which
might at once be most advantageous to his govern-
ment, and favourable for the native inhabitants and
the prosperity of the island. He examined all the con-
tinental collections, many of them richer than those
in this country, with the view of improving his know-
ledge before again returning to India. Even at this
time, he contemplated the possibility of an establish-
ment similar to the Garden of Plants in Paris, and
which lie seems never to have lost sight of, until its

VOL. vin. c

34 MEMOIR OF

actual institution, several years afterwards, under bis
auspices, as the Zoological Society of London.

In November 1817 Sir Stamford Raffles, accom-
panied by his lady, sailed for his new residency, and,
after a tedious voyage, arrived safely at Bencoolen.
The condition of this establishment at the time of his
arrival must have been very desolate. In a letter to
Mr Marsden, he thus describes their uncomfortable
situation: — " This is without exception the most
wretched place I ever beheld. I cannot convey to
you an adequate idea of the state of ruin and dilapi-
dation which surrounds me. What with natural im-
pediments, bad government, and the awful visitations
of providence, which we have recently experienced
in repeated earthquakes, we have scarcely a dwell-
ing in which to lay our heads, or wherewithal to sa-
tisfy the cravings of nature. The roads are impas-
sable ; the highways in the town overrun with rank
grass ; the government-house a den of ravenous dogs
and polecats." The administration seemed to have
been little better ; a listless idleness had taken hold
of the native inhabitants, gaming and cockfighting
prevailed, and the Malayan character was exhibited
in its very worst aspect ; while the murder of Mr
Parr, a former resident, had given rise to complete
distrust among the European inhabitants ;-—" an ap-
pearance of general desolation appeared."

By the energy and prudent measures adopted
without delay by Sir Stamford, the aspect of affairs
and of the country became soon improved, and con-
fidence to a certain extent was restored between

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 35

both the native and European population. To pur-
sue this object still farther, it was necessary that a
general knowledge of the island should be obtained,
and Sir Stamford resolved to make some excursions
to the interior. Accounts of these he has given in a
series of letters to his friends ; and as they contain
much interesting information regarding the natural
history of the island and its productions, we shall
here notice some of the more important discoveries
which were made.

The first excursion extended only to the nearest
range of hills which had not previously been visited
by Europeans ; and on a part of the range, " The Hill
of Mists," he selected a situation for a country resi-
dence, not very favourable, if we may judge from
the name, but it commanded an extensive view of
the lower country, and was subjected to a less degree
of heat. The second was to the southern residencies,
and the Passumah country, and is remarkable for
the discovery of the gigantic parasitic flower, destined
to hand to posterity the names of its discoverers —
Rafflesia Arnoldi.*

" On the next morning, at half-past five, we com-
menced our journey towards Passumah on foot, the
party consisting of myself, Lady Raffles, Dr Arnold,
and Mr Presgrove, the resident at Manna, with six
native officers, and about fifty coolies (porters), car-
rying our food and baggage. Our journey lay near

* Dr Arnold, who accompanied Sir Stamford in many of
his excursions, but lately fell a victim to the climate.

86 MEMOIR OF

the banks of the river during the whole day, but
frequently over high cliffs, and almost entirely
through thick forest. On approaching Lebu Tappu,
where a village once stood, we fell in with the tracks
of elephants. They were very numerous, and it
was evident they had only preceded us a short time.
We here passed over much ground, which at one
period must have been in cultivation, but which had
long been in a state of nature. After breakfasting
at Lebu Tappu, under the shade of the largest tree
we could find, we proceeded on to a place called
Pulolebar, where we were to sleep. This also had
been the site of a village, but no trace of human
dwelling or cultivation was to be found ; we reached
it at half-past four in the afternoon, having walked
for upwards of eight hours. We immediately set to
work and erected two or three sheds to sleep in, col-
lecting the materials from the vegetation around us.
The river here was broad but very rocky ; the scenery
highly romantic and beautiful. During the night
we were awakened by the approach of a party of
elephants, who seemed auxious to inquire our busi-
ness within their domains. Fortunately they kept
at some distance, arid allowed us to remain unmo-
lested. The natives fancy that there are two kinds
of elephants — the Gaja bermakpong, those which
always go in herds, and which are seldom mischiev-
ous, and the Gaja salunggal, or single elephants,
which are much larger and ferocious, going about
either singly or only two or three in company. It is

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES- 37

probable the latter kind are only the full grown
males.

" I must not omit to tell you, that, in passing
through the forest, we were, much to our inconve-
nience, greatly annoyed by leeches ; they got into
our boots and shoes, which became filled with blood.
At night, too, they fell off the leaves that sheltered
us from the weather, and on awaking in the morning
we found ourselves bleeding profusely. These were
a species of intruders we were not prepared for.

" The most important discovery throughout our
journey was made at this place. This was a gigan-
tic flower, of which I can hardly attempt to give any
thing like a just description. It is perhaps the lar-
gest and most magnificent flower in the world, and is
so distinct from every other flower, that I know not
to what I can compare it. Its dimensions will asto-
nish you ; it measured across from the extremity of
the petals rather more than a yard ; the nectarium
was nine inches wide, and as deep, estimated to con-
tain a gallon and a half of water, and the weight of
the whole flower fifteen pounds.

"The Sumatra name of this extraordinary pro-
duction is Petiman Sikinlili, or Devil's-siri (betle)
box. It is a native of the forests, particularly those
of Passumah, Ula, Manna.

" This gigantic flower is parasite on the lower stems
and roots of the Cissus angustifolia of Bosc. It ap-
pears at first in the form of a small round knob,
which gradually increases in size The flower-bud

38 MEMOIR OF

is inserted by numerous membranaceous sbeatbs
which surround it in successive layers, and expand
as the bud enlarges, until at length they form a cup
round its base. These sheaths or bracts are large,
round, concave, of a firm membranaceous consistence,
and. of a brown colour. The bud before expansion
is depressed, round, with five obtuse angles, nearly
a foot in diameter, and of a deep dusky red. The
flower, when fully expanded, is, in point of size, the
wonder of the vegetable kingdom ; the breadth across,
from the top of the one petal to the top of the other,
is three feet. The cup may be estimated capable of
containing twelve pints, and the weight of the whole
is from twelve to fifteen pounds. The inside of the
cup is of an intense purple, and more or less dense-
ly yellow, with soft flexible spines of the same co-
lour. Towards the mouth, it is marked with nu-
merous depressed spots of the purest white, con-
trasting strongly with the purple of the surrounding
substance, which is considerably elevated on the
lower side. The petals are of a brick-red, with nu-
merous pustular spots of a lighter colour. The whole
substance of the flower is not less than half an inch
thick, and of a firm fleshy consistence. It soon af-
ter expansion begins to give out a smell of decaying
animal matter. The fruit never bursts, but the
whole plant gradually rots away, and the seeds mix
with the putrid mass.

" There is nothing more striking in the Malayan
forests, than the grandeur of the vegetation. The

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 89

magnitude of the flowers, creepers, and trees, con-
trasts strikingly with the stunted, and, I had almost
said, pigmy vegetation of England. Compared with
our fruit-trees, your largest oak is a mere dwarf.
Here we have creepers and vines entwining larger
trees, and hanging suspended for more than 100
feet, in girth not less than a man's body, and many
much thicker ; the trees seldom under 100, and ge-
nerally approaching 160 to 200 feet in height.

" From Pulo Laber we started at half-past five, and
halted at eight to breakfast. At eleven we reached
the Sindangare river, where we took some refresh-
ment, and in the evening, about half-past five, reach-
ed Barong Rasam.

" The day's journey was most fatiguing, and not
less than thirty miles, entirely through a thick forest,
and over stupendous mountains, one of which, call-
ed the Sindangan mountain, could not have been
less than between 4000 and 5000 feet high. Neither
on this nor on the preceding day was there vestige
of population or cultivation ; nature was throughout
allowed to reign undisturbed, and from the traces
of elephants in every direction, they alone, of the
animal kingdom, seemed to have explored the re-
cesses of the forest.

" We got on, however, very well ; and though we
were all occasionally much fatigued, we did not com-
plain. Lady Raffles was a perfect heroine. The
only misfortune at this stage was a heavy fall of rain
during the night, which penetrated our leafy dwell-

40 MEMOIR OF

ing in every direction, and soaked every one of the
party to the skin. We were now two days' march
beyond the reach of supplies ; many of our coolies
had dropped off; some were fairly exhausted, and
we began to wish our journey at an end. We, how-
ever, contrived to make a good dinner on the re-
maining fowl, and having plenty of rice and claret,
did not complain of our fare.

" On the next morning we started in better spirits,
having been met by one of the chiefs of Passumah,
who came to welcome our approach, and to assure
us if we walked on foot we should reach a village
in the afternoon. For the first part of the day, our
route was still over stupendous mountains, sometimes
in the beds of rivers for miles, and at all times diffi-
cult ; but about noon we came into a country that
had once been cleared, and again fell in with the
Manna River, which we crossed on a raft previously
prepared for the purpose, many of the chiefs and
people of Passumah having assembled to meet us.
We had still, however, a very steep ascent to en^
counter ; but no sooner had we attained the summit,
and bent our steps downwards, than our view open-
ed upon one of the finest countries I ever beheld,
amply compensating us for all the dreariness of the
forest, and for all the fatigues we had undergone ;
perhaps the prospect was heightened by the contrast,
but the country I now beheld reminded me so much
of scenes in Java, and was in every respect so differ-
ent to that on the coast, that I could not help ex-

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 41

pressing myself in raptures. As we descended, the
scene improved ; we found ourselves in an immense
amphitheatre, surrounded by mountains ten and
twelve thousand feet high ; the soil on which we
stood rich beyond description, and vegetation luxu-
riant and brilliant in every direction. The people,
too, seemed a new race, far superior to those on the
coast, tall, stout, and ingenuous. They received us
most hospitably, and conducted us to the village of
Nigri-Cayu, where we slept.

" In the vicinity of Nigri-Cayu, were several hot
springs, and we soon succeeded in making very com-
fortable warm baths.

" On the next day we proceeded to Taujong
Alem (the point of the world), another village in the
Passumah country, which we reached in about six
hours' walk, through one of the finest countries in
the world, having before us nearly the whole way
the volcanic mountain called Gunung Dempu, from
which the smoke issued in large volumes.

" At Tanjung Alem, we remained two nights.
We found the villages in this part of the country
most respectable, many of them having more than
five hundred inhabitants ; the houses large, and on a
different plan to those on the coast ; each village,
which may rather be considered as a small town, has
a fosse or ditch round it, with high palisades. We
passed the site of two or three towns, which were
represented to have been destroyed by the petty hos-
tilities between the chiefs.

42 MEMOIR OP

" The people, though professedly Mahomedans,
seem more attached to their ancient worship and su-
perstitions than I expected. I clearly traced an an-
cient mythology, and obtained the names of at least
twenty gods, several of whom are Hindus. In each
of the villages we found a Lang'gar, similar to that
noticed at Merambung, but generally better con-
structed.

" The utmost good-humour and affection seemed
to exist among the people of the village ; they were
as one family, the men walking about holding each
other by the hand, and playing tricks with each other
like children. They were as fine a race as I ever
beheld ; in general about six feet high, and propor-
tionally stout, clear and clean skins, and an open in-
genuous countenance. They seemed to have abun-
dance of every thing ; rice, the staple food of the
country, being five times as cheap as at Bencoolen,
and every other article of produce in proportion.
The women and children were decorated with a pro-
fusion of silver ornaments, and particularly with
strings of dollars and other coins, hanging two or
three deep round the neck. It was not uncommon
to see a child with a hundred dollars round her neck.
Every one seemed anxious for medicine, and they
cheerfully agreed to be vaccinated. The small-pox
had latterly committed great ravages, and the popu-
lation of whole villages had fled into the woods to
avoid the contagion.

'* We now thought of returning to the coast, and

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES

on the 25th set off for Manna by a different rotf
to that by which we had arrived. Our first day's
journey was to Camumuan, which we reached a little
before six in the evening, after the hardest day's
walk 1 ever experienced. We calculated that we
had walked more than thirty miles, and over the
worst of roads. Hitherto we had been fortunate in
our weather ; but before we reached this place, a
heavy rain came on, and soaked us completely. The
baggage only came up in part, and we were content
to sleep in our wet clothes, under the best shade we
could find. No wood would burn ; there was no
moon ; it was already dark, and we had no shelter
erected : By perseverance, however, I made a toler-
able place for Lady Raffles, and, after selecting the
smoothest stone I could find in the bed of a river for
a pillow, we managed to pass a tolerably comfortable
night. This is what is here called the Ula Pino
road ; and we were encouraged to undertake long
marches, in the hope of only sleeping in the woods
one night, and in this we fortunately succeeded.

" The next day we reached Merambung, where
we got upon a raft, and were wafted down to the
vicinity of Manna in about seven hours. The pas-
sage down the river was extremely romantic and
grand ; it is one of the most rapid rivers on the
coast : we descended a rapid almost every hundred
yards.

" After proceeding from Manna to Cawoor, we
returned by the coast to Bencoolen, where we ar-

44 MEMOIR OF

rived on the 3d of June, to the no small astonish
ment of the colonists, who were not inclined to be-
lieve it possible we could have thought of such a
journey."

The party having thus returned in safety to Ben-
coolen, the attention of Sir Stamford was occupied for
a month in the concerns of the Company; but he con-
templated other excursions, and, in July 1818, com-
menced his inquiries regarding the ancient Malayan
city, Menangkabu, celebrated for the richness of its
ores and mineral productions. He embarked for
Padang, accompanied as formerly by Lady Raffles,
having upon the journey also the company and as-
sistance of Dr Horsfield. The journal of this expe-
dition, written at the time of its execution, and sent
home to his friends, is extremely interesting, but,
from its length, would occupy too much space here ;
we have therefore only selected some parts of it.

The difficulties of the way were much dwelt on by
the natives. Sir Stamford was, however, determined
to make the attempt, though the information of his
advanced party was rather confirmatory of danger.
"This party, consisting of about two hundred coolies,
fifty military as an escort, and all our personal ser-
vants, left Padongon the afternoon of the 14th June,
by beat of drum, forming a most ridiculous cavalcade,
the interest heightened by the quixotic appearance
of my friend Dr Horsfield, who was borne along on
the shoulders of four of the party, in order that, in
preceding us, he might gain time for botanizing.

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 45

Thursday the 16th, at day break, was fixed for our
departure.

"Next day was favourable, and the attempt was
made. Dr Horsfield and his party were soon over-
taken. At first the route lay along rich plains of rice
fields, fine soils, and the country intersected with
numerous streams, every indication of an extensive
and industrious population-; sheds erected for the ac-
commodation of travellers, at convenient distances,
with an occasional trace of a road. They reached
the village of Leman Manis, "a long straggling vil-
lage, or rather plantation, on the romantic banks of
a rapid river, which discharges itself into the sea at
Ujung Karang, and up the stream of which our far-
ther course lay ; here, as in several villages we had
passed, we observed a considerable quantity of coffee
growing ander the shade of the large fruit trees, and
contiguous to the houses. Our arrival was welcomed
by the beating of the great drum or tabu, which has
a place in every village. The drum is peculiar; it is
formed of the trunk of a large tree, and is at least
twenty feet long, hollowed out, and suspended on a
wooden frame, lying horizontally under a shed; one
end only is covered with parchment."

So far they accomplished the journey without
much difficulty, using the acomrnodations ot the na-
tive travellers. Their course continued along the
bed of the river, a bad substitute for a turnpike, but
almost the only passage in these wild but beautiful
districts. Their ascent was much steeper, the road

46 MEMOIR OF

more difficult. " Rocks piled on rocks, in sublime
confusion ; roaring cataracts, and slippery precipices
were now to be surmounted. Nothing could be
more romantic and wild than the course we had to
pass." After a laborious day, however, they suc-
ceeded in crossing Gunung Dinjin, a high steep moun-
tain, and encamped for the night on the confines of
the Tiga-blas country, in view of the western peak of
Berapi, emitting a volume of smoke. Here the party
became under the control of the chiefs of the country,
and it depended entirely on their inclinations whether
strangers should be allowed to pass. After much
consultation among those who next morning as-
sembled, among delays and prevarications as to
the reason of them, the restraint was broken through
by the energy of Sir Stamford, and the party allow-
ed to proceed, upon the payment of twenty dol-
lars. Then " we shook hands, and the utmost
cordiality and good understanding instantly pre-
vailed." They descended to the plains, attended
with several thousands, who now welcomed them
in the most savage manner, with yells and cheers
Having reached the principal town, they were, after
some delay and consultation, supplied with a com-
modious planked house, and spent the night with
sufficient comfort, keeping, however, the party to-
gether, and strict vigilance, necessary among so nu-
merous a people, who openly shewed such wild and
untamed manners.

This valley was of the richest description. " Here,"

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 47

writes Sir Stamford, " I was prepared to find a coun-
try still more fertile and populous than the fertile
valley of Passumah. The whole occupied by the
Tigas-blas-cotas, or thirteen confederate towns, is
one sheet of cultivation, in breadth about ten, in
length twenty miles, thickly studded with towns
and villages. On the slopes of the hills, the principal
cultivation is coffee, indigo, maize, sugar-cane, and
oil-giving plants ; on the plain below, exclusively rice.
A fine breed of small cattle, which seems peculiar,
abounds here, and throughout the Menangkabu coun-
try ; oxen seem generally used in agriculture, in pre-
ference to buffaloes ; they are in general about three
feet four inches high, beautifully made, and mostly o'
a light fawn colour, with black eyes and lashes, and
are sold at from three to four dollars a head. They
are, without exception, the most beautiful little ani-
mals of the kind I ever beheld ; we did not see one
in bad condition. Horses, of which there seems to
be plenty, are not much used. Fora mare and foal,
the price was about twenty shillings."

Thus they travelled on through a country little
known to Europeans, of the most important and in-
teresting description, full of interest to the antiquary
and naturalist, — the classic ground of the Malays.
On the night of the 21st, they reached the banks of
Danau, or lake of Sincara, a beautiful sheet of wa-
ter about fourteen miles long, and seven broad, sur-
rounded with mountains and hills, highly cultivated
at the bases, and open only towards the Tiga-blas

48 MEMOIR OF

country, whore a plain of its own breadth gradually
sinks into its bosom. On the morning following,
they embarked and reached a town of some conse-
quence, Simawang, occupying the summit of a hill
about 500 feet above the level of the lake, and com-
manding a very extensive prospect. The next morn-
ing they proceeded to Suruasa, the second city of
importance, and, by mid-day, obtained the first view
of Pageauyong, the capital of the Menangkabu coun-
try, and one of the objects of the excursion.

From the approach to these cities which had been
thus passed, it was evident that, at one period, they
had been of importance. " But, alas, little was left
for our curiosity but the wreck of what had once
been great and populous. The Wagarin trees, which
shaded and added solemnity to the palace, were still
standing in all their majesty. The fruit trees, and
particularly the cocoa nut, marked the boundaries of
this once extensive city ; but the rank grass had
usurped the halls of the palace, and scarce was the
thatch of the peasant to be found. Three times had
the city been committed to the flames ; well might I
say, in the language of the Brata Yudha, * Sad and
melancholy was her wagarin tree, like the sorrow of
a wife whose husband is afar.' " Several interesting
inscriptions were discovered here, arid a chastely
carved Hindu image, which, together with the very
high state of cultivation in the surrounding country,
were strong arguments in favour of the opinion formed
by Sir Stamford, that the Malayan empire was not

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 49

of recent origin. Early next morning the party pro-
ceeded to the capital, which we shall notice in the
narrator's own words. " In approaching Pageru-
yong, we had an excellent view of this once famous
city. It is built at the foot, and partly on the slope
of a steep and rugged hill, called Gunung Bongso, so
memorable for its appearance, and the three peaks
it exhibits. Below the town, under a precipice of
from fifty to a hundred feet, in some parts nearly
perpendicular, winds the beautiful stream of Selo,
which pursuing its course, passes Saruasa, where it
takes the name of the Golden River, and finally falls
into the Indragiri. In front of the city rises the
mountain Berapi, the summit of which may be about
twenty miles distant. It is on the slopes of this
mountain that the principal population is settled ,
the whole side of the mountain, for about fifteen miles
from Pageruyong in every direction, being covered
with villages and rice fields. The entrance to the
city, which is now only marked by a few venerable
trees, and the traces of what was once a highway, is
nearly three quarters of a mile before we come to
the Bali and site of the former palace. Here, little
is left save the noble Wagarin trees, and these appear,
iii several instances, to have suffered from the action
of fire. Scarcely the appearance of a hut is to be
seen ; the large flat stone, however, on which the
Sultan used to sit on days of public ceremony, was
pointed out to us ; and when the weeds had been
partially cleared, the royal burial ground was disco-

YOL. VTII.

50 MEMOIR OF

vered. In this we did not discover any inscription
in the ancient character, but the ground was but
very partially and hastily examined. We were struck,
however, with the sculpture of later days, the me-
morials of the dead raised in Mahommedan times,
on a small scale, but beautifully executed."

" This city had shared the same fate with that of
Saruasa. Three times had it been committed to the
flames ; twice had it risen to something like splen-
dour ; from the last shock it had not yet recovered.
Where the palace of the Sultan had stood, I observ-
ed a man planting cucumbers, and the sugar cane
occupied the place of the seraglio. The whole coun-
try from Pageruyong, as far as the eye could dis-
tinctly trace, was one continued scene of cultivation,
interspersed with innumerable towns and villages,
shaded by the cocoa nut and other fruit trees. I
may safely say, that this view equalled any thing 1
ever saw in Java. The scenery is more majestic and
grand, population equally dense, — cultivation equally
rich. Here, then, for the first time, was I able to
trace the source of that power, the origin of that
nation so extensively scattered over the Eastern Ar-
chipelago." From this interesting city and fine coun-
try, the party commenced their return, and reached
Padang, after an absence of fourteen days.

Sir Stamford again arrived at Bencoolen, com-
menced his official occupations with his wonted
energy, — visited Calcutta and many of the neigh-
bouring islands. In most of these excursions he was

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 51

accompanied by Lady Raffles, who entered warmly
into his pursuits, and delighted in exploring those fairy
isles, the lands of eastern fable and magnificence, ce-
lebrated by all mariners as the most gorgeous water
scenery in the world :

" So strong the influence of the fairy scene.1'

" It is impossible," writes Lady Raffles, " to con-
vey an idea of the pleasure of sailing through this
beautiful and unparalleled Archipelago, in which
every attraction of nature is combined. The smooth-
ness of the sea, the lightness of the atmosphere, the
constant succession of the most picturesque lake
scenery ; islands of every shape and size clustered
together; mountains of the most fanciful forms
crowned with verdure to their summit ; rich and luxu-
riant vegetation extending to the very edge of the
water; little native boats with only one person in
them, continually darting out from the -deep shade
which concealed them, looking like so many cockle
shells wafted about by the wind. Altogether, it is
a scene of enchantment deserving a poet's pen to de-
scribe its beauties."

With the sanction of the government of the India
House, Sir Stamford had now in his employment a
regular establishment of naturalists and draughtsmen,
at the head of which were two French naturalists,
Messrs Diard and Duvaucel, who, in addition to
their knowledge in preparing specimens, added ac-
quirements in science of no ordinary kind. They were

52 MEMOIR OF

both brought up in the Parisian school of the Gar-
den of Plants, and to their discoveries, after the ter-
mination of their agreement with Sir Stamford, we
are indebted for several new and curious productions.
Nearly at this period, Sir Stamford's discoveries in
Zoology were published in the Transactions of the
Linnean Society ; among these may be mentioned
the Ursus Malayanus, forming the Genus Helarctos
of Horsfield ; the Felis macrocelis, or Rimau dahan ;
the Viverra gymnura, which Messrs Vigors and Hors-
field afterwards dedicated to its discoverer under the
title of Gymnura Rafflesii; several very interesting
quadrumanous animals, and the Indian Tapir. In
tracing out these animals, great difficulty often arose;
they inhabited the interior, and the first indication of
them was perhaps some rude hint or native descrip-
tion ; thus, Sir Stamford was of opinion that another
large tapir-looking animal inhabited the forests, with a
narrow riband of white round the back and belly ;
the description was simply, that the band is narrow,
head truncated, the tail long ; and they had to be
sought for and obtained in districts, little, if ever,
visited, and where there was often a superstitious
dread, which no persuasion or temptation could over-
come. Among the rarer birds, we are also indebted
to these researches for Eurylamus, Calyptomena,
&c. All these were proposed to have been illus-
trated in a work entitled Museum Rafflesianum, but
which we fear has not reached a step farther than
its contemplation.

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 53

As time wore on, the occupations of office became
'ess engrossing. The long time spent in passing
from Calcutta to Bencoolen, in matters connected
with government, and the permanent establishment
and prosperous condition of Singapore, left little more
to be accomplished : a return to Europe was contem-
plated, and the arrangement and description of his im-
mense collections looked forward to. At Bencoolen,
Sir Stamford lived in comparative retirement at his
residence in the country ; his chief employments be-
ing study and the examination of the numerous inte-
resting productions his house and grounds contained,
being in his own words, " a perfect Noah's ark." Farm-
ing occupied also a portion of his time, and the mak-
ing of roads, and improving the neighbouring country.
In a letter to his cousin, he pleasantly writes, " Much
of my time is taken up in agricultural pursuits. I am
by far the most active farmer in the country ; and as
President of the Agricultural Society, not only take
precedence at the board but in the field. I have a
dozen ploughs constantly going, and before I quit the
estate, I hope to realize a revenue of L. 2000 or
L. 3000 a-year, besides feeding its population."

This state of rural happiness and employment in
benefiting the country was now however about to ter-
minate. A succession of sickly seasons occurred,
which ravaged the population, and we may almost be
surprised that Sir Stamford and his lady were pre-
served among the many losses they sustained. Their
three eldest children fell victims in succession to the

54 MEMOR OF

climate, and it was resolved that they should consent
to separation from their fourth and only surviving
daughter, rather than that she should run the risk of
encountering the malaria. To these diseases his
hosom friend and companion in research also fell a
victim, and while under these severe dispensations, a
voyage to Singapore was undertaken finally to ar-
range the settlement, and to prepare for his departure
from the East, after a residence of much labour, anxi-
ety, and satisfaction, of much affliction and much hap-
piness.

At Singapore health and resignation of mind were
in part restored. Many interesting productions were
added to his private collection now immense, while
several useful establishments and regulations were
completed, and all in this part was arranged for depar-
ture. He returned again to Bencoolen ; the ship which
was intended to carry the late governor to his native
country has arrived ; all his collections, great and
invaluable, were on board ; and on the 2d February
1824, Sir Stamford and his family embark in the
Fame and sail for England with a fair wind. But
early in the first night of their hopes and anticipa-
tions, they were turned into distraction, and all their
powers exerted to save life alone. We shall give
the account of this dreadful calamity, written by Sir
Stamford himself, two days after its occurrence, and
leave the reader to judge what his feelings must
have been. To Natural History it was the most
extensive loss of materials she had ever sustained.

" We embarked on the 2d instant in the Fame,

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 55

and sailed at daylight for England with a fair wind,
and every prospect of a quiet and comfortable pas-
sage.

u The ship was every thing we could wish, and
having closed my charge here much to my satisfac-
tion, it was one of the happiest days of my life. We
were perhaps too happy, for in the evening came a
sad reverse. Sophia had just gone to bed, and I
had thrown off half my clothes, when a cry of Fire,
fire ! roused us from our calm content, and in five
minutes the whole ship was in flames! I ran to
examine whence the flames principally issued, and
found that the fire had its origin immediately under
our cabin. Down with the boats. Where is So-
phia ? Here. The children ? Here. A rope to
this side. Lower Lady Raffles. Give her to me,
says one : I'll take her, says the captain. Thiow
the gunpowder over board. It cannot be got at ; it
is in the magazine close to the fire. Stand clear of
the powder. Skuttle the water-casks. Water !
Water ! Where's Sir Stamford ? Come into the
boat, Nilson ! Nilson, come into the boat. Push
off — push off. Stand clear of the after part of the
ship.

" All this passed much quicker than I can write
it. We pushed off, and as we did so, the flames
burst out of our cabin window, and the whole of the
after part of the^ship was in flames. The masts and
sails now taking fire, we moved to a distance suffi-
cient to avoid the immediate explosion ; but the

56 MEMOIR OF

flames were now coming out of the main hatchway,
and seeing the rest of the crew, with the captain,
still on board, we pulled back to her under her bows,
so as to be more distant from the powder. As we
approached we perceived that the people on board
were getting into another boat on the opposite side.
She pulled off — we hailed her ; have you all on
board ? Yes, all save one. Who is he ? Johnson,
sick in his cot. Can we save him ? No, impossi-
ble. The flames were issuing from the hatchway.
At this moment, the poor fellow scorched, I imagine,
roared out most lustily, having run upon deck. I
will go for him, says the captain. The two boats
then came together, and we took out some of the
persons from the captain's boat, which was over-
laden ; he then pulled under the bowsprit of the
ship, and picked the poor fellow up. Are you all
safe? Yes, we have got the man — all lives safe.
Thank God ! pull off from the ship. Keep your
eye on a star, Sir Stamford. There is one scarcely
visible.

" We then hauled close to each other, and found
the captain fortunately had a compass, but we had
no light except from the ship. Our distance from
Bencoolen we estimated to be about fifty miles in a
south-west direction. There being no landing-place
to the southward of Bencoolen, our only chance was
to regain that port. The captain then undertook to
lead, and we to follow, in a north north-east course,
as well as we could, no chance, no possibility being

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 57

left, that we could again approach the ship ; for she
was now one splendid flame, fore and aft, and aloft,
her masts and sails in a blaze, and rocking to and
fro, threatening to fall in an instant. There goes
her mizen-mast ; pull away my hoys. There goes
the gunpowder. Thank God ! — thank God !

" You may judge of our situation without farther
particulars. The alarm was given at about twenty
minutes past eight, and in less than ten minutes she
was in flames. There was not a soul on board at
half-past eight, and in less than ten minutes after-
wards she was one grand mass of fire.

" My only apprehension was the want of boats to
hold the people, as there was not time to have got
out the long boat, or to make a raft ; all we had to
rely upon were two small quarter boats, which for-
tunately were lowered without accident ; and in these
two small open boats, without a drop of water or
grain of food, or a rag of covering, except what we
happened at the moment to have on our backs, we
embarked on the ocean, thankful to God for his
mercies ! Poor Sophia, having been taken out of
her bed, had nothing on but a wrapper, neither shoes
nor stockings. The children were just as taken out
of bed, where one had been snatched after the flames
had attacked it ; — in short, there was not time for
any one to think of more than two things. Can the
ship be saved ? No. Let us save ourselves then.
All else was swallowed up in one grand ruin.

" To make the best of our misfortune, we availed

58 MEMOIR OF

ourselves of the light from the burning ship to steer
a tolerably good course towards the shore. She con-
tinued to burn till about midnight, when the salt-
petre she had on board took fire, and sent up one of
the most splendid and brilliant flames that was ever
seen, illuminating the horizon in every direction to
an extent of not less than fifty miles, and casting
that kind of blue light over us, which is of all others
the most horrible. She burnt and continued to flame
in this style for about an hour or two, when we lost
sight of the object in a cloud of smoke.

" Neither Nilson nor Mr Bell, our medical friend,
who had accompanied us, had saved their coats ; but
the tail of mine, with a pocket handkerchief, served
to keep Sophia's feet warm, and we made breeches
for the children with our neckcloths. Rain now
came on, but, fortunately, it was not of long conti-
nuance, and we got dry again. The night became
serene and starlight ; we were now certain of our
course, and the men behaved manfully ; they rowed
incessantly, am) with good heart and spirit, and never
did p-oor mortals look out more for daylight and for
land than we did ; not that our sufferings or grounds
of complaint were any thing to what had befallen
others, but from Sophia's delicate health, as well as
my own, and the stormy nature of our coast, I felt
perfectly convinced we were unable to undergo star-
vation and exposure to sun and weather many days,
and, aware of the rapidity of the currents, I feared
we might fall to the southward of the port.

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 59

•' At daylight we recognised the coast and Rat
Island, which gave us great spirits ; and though we
found ourselves much to the southward of the port,
we considered ourselves almost at home. Sophia
had gone through the night better than could have
been expected, and we continued to pull on with all
our strength. About 8 or 9 we saw a ship standing
to us from the roads ; they had seen the flames from
shore, and sent out vessels to our relief; and here,
certainly, came a minister of Providence, in the cha-
racter of a minister of the Gospel, for the first person
I recognised was one of our missionaries. He gave
us a bucket of water, and took the captain on board
as a pilot. The wind, however, was adverse, and
we could not reach the shore, and took to the ship,
where we got some refreshment and shelter from the
sun. By this time Sophia was quite exhausted,
fainting continually. About two o'clock we landed
safe and sound, and no words of mine can do justice
to the expressions of feeling sympathy and kindness
with which we were hailed by every one. If any
proof had been wanting that my administration had
been satisfactory here, we had it unequivocally from
all ; there was not a dry eye, and as we drove back
to our former home, loud was the cry of ' God be
praised.'

" The loss I have to regret beyond all, is my pa-
pers and drawings, — all my notes and observations,
with memoirs and collections, sufficient for a full and
ample history, not only of Sumatra, but of Borneo,

60 MEMOIR OF

and almost every other island of note in these seas ;
— my intended account of the establishment of Sin-
gapore ; — the history of my owa administration ; —
eastern grammars, dictionaries, and vocabularies ; —
and last, not least, a grand map of Sumatra, on which
I had been employed since my arrival here, and on
which, for the last six months, I had bestowed al-
most my whole undivided attention. This, however,
was not all ; — all my collections in natural history,
all my splendid collection of drawings, upwards of
2000 in number, with all the valuable papers and
notes of my friends Arnold and Jack ; and, to con-
clude, I will merely notice, that there was scarce an
unknown animal, bird, beast or fish, or an interest-
ing plant, which we had not on board ; a living ta-
pir, a new species of tiger, splendid pheasants5 &c.
domesticated for the voyage ; we were, in short, in
this respect, a perfect Noah's Ark>

" All — all has perished ; but, thank God, our
lives have been spared, and we do not repine. "

After this heavy dispensation we might suppose
a person desponding, it was not so with Sir Stam-
ford ; and in no event of his life did he exhibit so
much energy. He had seen the labours of twenty
years, his collection of drawings, manuscripts of his
own, and of his companions, who had fallen victims
to their researches, the greater part of his private
property, the presents of his friends, and testimonials
of his services, all swept away, reduced to ashes in
a few hours. But truly thankful for the preserva-

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 61

tion of his family, and as soon as he had again placed
them in a situation of comfort and safety, do we find
him endeavouring to repair tbe vast losses he had
sustained. The very day after, he commenced
sketching from recollection his map of Sumatra, —
set to work draftsmen, and sent people to the forests
to collect new specimens. He repined not, but went
perseveringly on ; and the best proof of his success
is the large assemblage of subjects which he munifi-
cently presented to the Zoological Society upon its
institution.

The anxiety of Sir Stamford and Lady Raffles,
after these severe trials, to reach England, natu-
rally increased, and another ship was engaged, in
which they again embarked on the 8th of April.
They experienced a most tempestuous passage, but
arrived in safety among their anxious friends. The
constitution of Sir Stamford was very much shatter-
ed by climate and the constant exercise of his mind,
for it was one of those which could never rest, but
which eventually actually wear themselves out. The
cares of his friends comparatively restored his health,
and his spirits never flagged ; mentioning his future
plans of life, he says, " I confess I have a great desire
to turn farmer, and have the vanity to think I could
manage about two hundred acres as well as my
neighbours. With this, I suppose, I should in time
become a county magistrate, an office of all others I
should delight in, and if I should eventually get a
seat in Parliament, without sacrifice in Principle, I

62 MEMOIR OF

should be content to pass through the rest of my life
without aiming at any thing farther, beyond the oc-
cupation of my spare time in promoting, as far as my
humble means and talents admitted, the pursuits of
knowledge and science, and the advancement of phi-
lanthropic and religious principles." Thus marking
out for himself a course of active employment.

The love of retirement and free intercourse with na-
ture, wearied him of London, and soon after his arrival
in England he purchased the estate of Highwood, not
far from town, which he intended should be his head
quarters. His time was in the mean time actively
employed in arranging from recollection parts of his
researches in the East, and in examining what he had
been enabled to collect during his short stay at Ben-
coolen after the burning of the Fame. He now ex-
pressed his opinion of the possibility of a Society
somewhat upon the plan of the Garden of Plants,
and enlisted in his cause the services of Sir Hum-
phry Davy. To his cousin, in the full enthusiasm of
success, he writes : " I am much interested at pre-
sent in establishing a grand Zoological Collection in
the Metropolis, with a Society for the introduction
of living animals, bearing the same relations to
Zoology as a science, that the Horticultural does to
Botany. We hope to have 2000 subscribers, at
L. 2 each ; and, it is farther expected, we may go far
beyond the Jardin des Plantes at Paris. Sir Hum-
phrey Davy and myself are the projectors. And
while he looks more to the practical and immediate

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 63

utility to the country gentlemen, my attention i.s
more directed to the scientific department." The
increase of zoological knowledge by the study of
the living beings, the introduction of such as might
prove useful in our manufactures or commerce, and
the giving to the science popularity and general dif-
fusion, were among the chief objects. The hopes of
establishing such a combination were crowned with
the utmost success in the institution of the Zoologi-
cal Society of London. We have not room to give
all the plan, details, and prospectus of the commence-
ment of this now important institution, but it will be
interesting, and perhaps wished for by many, to see
t le names of those who were first associated with
Sir Stamford in its formation.

SIR STAMFORD RAFFLES, LL. D., F. R. S., &c. Chairman.

DUKE OF SOMERSET, LL. D., F. R. S., &c.

EARL OF DARNLEY, F. R. S., &c.

VISCOUNT GAGE, M. A., &c.

SAMUEL, Lord Bishop of Carlisle, LL. D., V. P. R. S., &e

LORD STANLEY, M. P., V. P. R. S., &.

SIR H. DAVY, Bart. LL. D., Pres. R. S., &c.

SIR EVERARD HOME, Bart. V. P. R. S., &c.

E. BARNARD, Esq. F. L. S., &c.

H. T. COLEROOKE, Esq. F. R. S., &c.

DA VIES GILBERT, Esq. V. P.R. S., &c.

EARL OF EGREMONT, F. R. S., &c.

EARL OF MALMESBURY.

Rev. Dr GOODENOUGH, F. R. S., &c.

THOMAS HORSFIELD, M. D., F. L. S., &c.

The Rev. W. KIRBY, M. A., F. R. S., &c

T. A. KNIGHT, Esq. F.R.S., Pres. H.S., &c.

T. A, KNIGHT Jun. Esq. M. A., &c«

64 MEMOIR OP

W. SHARPS MACLEAY, Esq. M. A., F.L.S., &c.
JOSEPH SABINE, Esq. F. R. S., &c.
N. A. VIGORS, Esq. M. A., F. R. S., &c.
CHARLES BARINGWALL, Esq. M. P.

Such was the establishment of the London Zoolo«
gical Society, now advanced to such a state of pros-
perity, as, (with the proper distribution of a large
income) to have the power of promoting science more
than any other European establishment. Sir Stam-
ford foresaw all this, — saw his most sanguine hopes
were to be realized, and bequeathed to it the remains
of his great and valuable collections.

But he scarcely witnessed, in reality, more than
its splendid commencement. The fatigues of his
long public career, the energy of his mind, and great
excitement incident to the success of any favour-
ite scheme, had worn out and undermined his con-
stitution ; and two years after his return to England,
when about to retire from public life and enjoy do-
mestic privacy, he was suddenly snatched from his
family and friends. Some time previously, he had
had a shock, which, at the time, was not considered
serious ; but, on the 5th July 1826, he was threat-
ened with a return of it, which confirmed the previ-
ous suspicions of his medical attendants, and termi-
nated fatally. He expired on the day previous to
the completion of his 45th year.

Thus we have seen the life of Sir Stamford Raffles
to have been one of unwearied activity for the bene-

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 65

fit of his employers, the prosperity of those he super-
intended, and the advancement of natural science.
His works, with the exception of the History of Java,
are chiefly contributions to the Asiatic and Batavian
Transactions, and those of the Linnaaan Society of
London, upon the Antiquities and History of the
Tribes and Country, and the Natural History of the
Eastern Archipelago. But in this enumeration we
must not neglect those which shared the fate of his
collections. They included Histories of Sumatra,
Borneo, Celebs, Java and the Moluccas, and Singa-
pore, besides Translations from ancient manuscripts,
Dictionaries, Grammars and Vocabularies. While
among the memoranda which he left, were the titles
of several projected works, — " Notes illustrative of
the Natural History, and more especially the Geo-
logy of the Malay Islands, containing Geographical
and Geological Notices, with an account of some of
the more remarkable Vegetable Productions, and the
outline of a Fauna Malayana." Another work, with
the assistance of Dr. Horsfield, was thus sketched
out : " Contents, introduction, — Geographical and
Geological Outline of the Archipelago, — ditto of
Java, with Plates, — ditto of Sumatra, with ditto, —
and Journey to Menangkabu, — Banca, with a Map
and abstract Memoir ; principal Vegetable Produc-
tions, and their Distribution and Localities, — Fauna
Malayana,-«-Larger Animals, &c. Distribution and
Account of, generally as introductory to the Descrip-

VOL. VIII. E

00 MEMOIR OF

tive Catalogue. Catalogue arranged scientifically
with relation to the order of Nature."

They would have embraced every department in
the history of these countries, and the extensive
view he took, leads us only more and more to regret
their heing lost to his successors in science. No
natural history of the East can be given without
introducing the labours of Sir Stamford Raffles^
and as a patron of Natural History, his name will
stand coupled with that of Sir Joseph Banks.

It only remains that we close this biographical
Memoir with some account of his elaborate and
valuable History of Java, to which we already
alluded, when adverting to the occasion of his re-
ceiving the honour of Knighthood from the Prince
Regent, in 1817- Though written hastily, and
for a special object, this interesting wrork contains
a very ample detail of every thing connected with
that island and its inhabitants ; — its antiquities ; —
the different races by whom it was originally peo-
pled ; — its ancient and modern history ; — its geo-
graphical situation; — its animal, vegetable, and
mineralogical productions; — its climate, soil, ma-
nufactures, commerce, and institutions ; — the state
of the arts and sciences; — the various dialects
spoken by the natives; — their manners and cus-
toms;— their religious ceremonies; — and forms of
government. To enter into a description of all, or
most of these particulars, would compel us to ex«

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 67

tend this sketch far heyond its due limits ; nor is it
necessary to our purpose. We shall therefore con-
fine our observations to such parts of the work as
are connected with the physical, rather than with
the civil or political history of the country.

Of Java, little is known until the establishment
of Mohammedanism about the end of the 13th
century of the Javan era (1475), when, according
to the native annalists, Mulana Ibrahim, a cele-
brated Pandita from Arabia, learning that the
inhabitants of that large and populous island were
heathens, resolved to undertake an expedition for
their conversion to the faith of the Prophet. In
course of time the Moslem creed prevailed, after a
iong and bloody war. About two hundred years
later, Java was first visited by the English and
Dutch ; the latter, as is well known, succeeded in
establishing their power at Bantam (1595), avail-
ing themselves of the divisions and convulsions by
which the country had been previously distracted.

Passing over the long train of military and mer-
cantile transactions which followed, we need only
mention that by the final settlement of 1 758, at the
end of twelve years' war, in which the finest pro-
vinces of the island were laid waste, thousands slain
on both sides, and the independence of the ancient
empire totally annihilated, the Dutch divided the
government between themselves and the native
princes, to whom the inland and southern districts

00 MEMOIR OF

were restored, and parcelled out in nearly equal
proportions.

The terms on which these arrangements stood,
suffered no material alteration until the year 1808,
when the ambitious views of Bonaparte had begun
to be more fully developed ; and the annexation of
Holland to France, placed at his disposal all the
valuable and extensive possessions of the Dutch in
the Eastern Seas; — possessions as important to
Holland, as those on the continent of India are to
Great Britain. France then looked to Java as the
point from whence her operations might be most
successfully directed, not only against the political
ascendancy of England in the East, but likewise
against her commercial interests both abroad and
at home. Accordingly, with a view to promote the
designs of Napoleon, the Dutch governor of Java,
Marshal Daendels, officially declared, that the clauses*
of the existing treaties, by which the native princes
held their territories in fee from the Dutch, were
void ; and that, in future, he should consider them
as independent princes, having no other relation to
the European government, than such as must of
necessity exist between a weaker and stronger state
in the immediate neighbourhood of each other.
This declaration was tantamount either to voluntary
submission on the part of the weaker, or imme-
diate hostilities should they venture to resist. Some
indications of opposition having appeared. Marshal

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLFS. 69

Daendels advanced towards the capital with a con-
siderable force ; but a negociation having been
opened, a treaty was entered into, by which the
reigning Sultan (Amang Kubuana II.) consented
to surrender the administration of the country into
the hands of his son (Amang Kubuana III.) ; who
was appointed to exercise the same, under the title
of regent, and to cede certain provinces.

The stipulations of this treaty had not been
carried into effect, when, in the month of August
1811, the British forces arrived in Java, accom-
panied by Lord Minto, the Governor- General of
India, with Mr. Raffles, acting in the capacity of
his Secretary. General Jansens, who had suc-
ceeded Marshal Daendels in the government, ex-
pected the invasion of the English, and was making
all preparations within his power to meet them.
But his efforts were in vain ; a short campaign of
three weeks, and one decisive engagement, sufficed
to make the invaders masters of the whole Dutch
possessions. The British were landed on the 16th
of August, and the battle of Carmelis was fought
by Sir Samuel Auchmuty on the 26th, which de-
cided the conquest of the island; although the
final capitulation was not signed till the 18th of
September, at Semarang, where General Jansens
had retired after his defeat. The capture of Java
was announced by Lord Minto, to the authorities
in England, in the following terms : — " An empire,
which for two centuries has contributed greatly to

70 MEMOIR OF

the power, prosperity, and grandeur of one of the
principal and most respected states in Europe, has
been thus wrested from the short usurpation of the
French government, added to the dominion of the
British crown, and converted from a state of hostile
machination and commercial competition, into an
augmentation of British power and prosperity."

The government of this new " empire" was be-
stowed with a feeling and confidence honourable
to the giver, and no less gratifying to the person
in whom such a high and noble trust was reposed.
His Lordship, says Lady Raffles in her Memoir,
" though partly pledged to another, declared he
could not conscientiously withhold it from him
who had won it; and, therefore, as an acknow-
ledgement of the services he had rendered, and
in consideration of his peculiar fitness for the
office, he immediately appointed Mr. Raffles to
it, under the title of Lieutenant-Governor of Java,
and its dependencies."

Of his administration, and especially of his great
services to natural science during the four years he
held that office, we have already given some ac-
count ; the causes of his returning to England have
also been noticed ; as well as the employment of
his leisure time there in writing his History. His
great object in undertaking this laborious work,
says his widow, " was to record the information
which he had collected regarding Java. The island
had been transferred by the English government, in

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 71

total ignorance of its value, to the Dutch*. The
presence of Mr. Raffles in England created an inte-
rest in the subject, as far as his personal influence
extended. To diffuse this interest more generally,
and to make the country sensible of the loss sus-
tained, by the relinquishment of so flourishing a
colony to a foreign and a rival power, he deter-
mined to write his History of Java, which he
completed with his usual quickness. A few sheets
were rapidly written off every morning for the
printer, and corrected at night on his return from
his dinner engagements. It was commenced in the
month of October, 1816, and published (in two
volumes quarto) in May, 181 7-"

Sir Stamford himself, in his Preface, alludes to
an intimate friend whom he thought better qualified
for such a work; and as he pays a tribute, not
more eloquent than sincere, to a distinguished
Scotchman, the celebrated Dr. Leyden, who had
accompanied the expedition to Batavia, and died
immediately on the landing of the troops, we need
offer no apology for quoting that passage. " Most
sincerely and deeply do I regret that this book did
not fall into hands more able to do it justice. There

* On the 13th of August, 1814, a convention was entered
into by Viscount Castlereagh at Vienna, on the part of his
Britannic Majesty, restoring to the Dutch the whole of their
former possessions in the Eastern Islands ; and on the 19th
August, 1816, the flag of the Netherlands was again hoisted
at Batavia.

72 MEMOIR OF

was one (Dr. L,), dear to me in private friendship
and esteem, who, had he lived, was of all men
best calculated to have supplied those deficiencies
which will he apparent in the very imperfect work
now presented to the public. From his profound
acquaintance with Eastern languages and Indian
history, from the unceasing activity of his great
talents, his prodigious acquirements, his extensive
views, and his confident hope of illustrating na-
tional migrations from the scenes which he was
approaching, much might have heen expected;
but just as he reached those shores on which he
hoped to slake his ardent thirst for knowledge, he
fell a victim to excessive exertion, deplored by all,
and by none more truly than myself."

Without detracting from the high encomium here
passed on Leyden, we may venture to assert, that
the public are well satisfied as to the manner in
which the author himself has prepared and executed
his laborious task, notwithstanding his impaired
state of health, and the many encroachments made
on his time. In every chapter he pours forth the
treasures of a mind stored with information, whether
the subject be religion or literature, commerce or
agriculture, the remains of antiquity or the pursuits
of science.

Of the chapters devoted to the learning and su-
perstitions of the natives; their religious edifices,
especially the splendid temples of Brambanan, Boro
Bodo, Gununsr Prahu, Kediri, Singa Sari, Suku,

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 73

&c., it would be foreign to our purpose to give any
analysis. Many of these excel the monuments of
Egypt in the elegance of their sculpture, the number
of their images, and the beauty of their architecture.
Whole plains are found covered by scattered ruins,
and large fragments of hewn stone; and in one
place were traced the sites of nearly four hundred
temples, having broad and extensive streets or roads
running between them at right angles. It was not
until very recently that the antiquities of Java ex-
cited much notice. " The narrow policy of the
Dutch (Sir Stamford observes) denied to other
nations facilities of research ; and their devotion to
the pursuits of commerce, was too exclusive to
allow of their being much interested by the subject.
The numerous remains of former art and grandeur,
which exist in the ruins of temples and other edi-
fices ; the abundant treasures of sculpture and sta-
tuary with which some parts of the island are
covered; and the evidences of a former state of
religious belief and national improvement, which
are presented in images, devices, and inscriptions,
either lay entirely buried under rubbish, or were
but partially examined. In addition to their claims
on the consideration of the antiquarian, two of these
ruins, Brambanan and Boro Bodo, are admirable as
majestic works of art. The great extent of the
masses of building, covered in some parts with the
luxuriant vegetation of the climate, the beauty and
delicate execution of the separate portions, the

74 MEMOIR OF

symmetry and regularity of the whole, the great
number and interesting character of the statues and
bas-reliefs with which they are ornamented, excite
our wonder that they were not earlier examined,
sketched, and described."

It is almost during the present century, and
chiefly by the exertions of Sir Stamford himself,
that these singular reliques have been brought to
light, and made known to Europe. His volumes
contain some hundreds of these objects, including
temples, statues, inscriptions, medals, coins, cups,
and other implements, taken from the original casts
in stone, copper, or brass, but rarely of silver. It
is said that formerly many gold casts were dis-
covered of a similar description, but these have
disappeared, and one village is mentioned as having
from time immemorial paid its annual rent, amount-
ing to upwards of a thousand dollars, in gold pro-
cured by melting down the relics of antiquity found
in its neighbourhood. The age of most of these
remains is alleged to be between the sixth and
ninth century of the Christian era, that being the
period of greatest splendour in the East, though
the darkest spot in the intellectual history of
Europe. They are partly Mohammedan, but chief-
ly Pagan or Indian, several of them having been
evidently consecrated to the worship of Budh.

In concluding his interesting remarks on these
architectural antiquities, Sir Stamford infers, from
the extensive variety of temples and sculpture, as

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 7^

well as from that of the characters found in the
ancient inscriptions, the probability that Java has
been colonised from different parts of the continent
of Asia. " The Budhist religion (says he) is by
many deemed of higher antiquity than what is now
called the Braminical, and it seems generally ad-
mitted that the followers of Budh were driven by
the Bramins to the extremes of Asia and the islands
adjacent. The Javans and Budhists had probably
the same worship originally, from which the Bra-
mins or priests may have separated, after the man-
ner in which it has been said the Jesuits of Europe
once aimed at universal empire ; and when we con-
sider that the religion of Budh, or some modification
of it, is still the prevailing worship of Ceylon, Ava,
Siam, China, and Japan ; we are not surprised to
find indications of its former establishment in Java."
Leaving these subjects, however, and passing over
what is said of the civil, political, and commercial
history of the country, as well as of the learning
and habits of the people, we shall advert briefly to
some other points that are more akin to the nature
and design of a work like the present, viz. the de-
scription that is given of the country, of its phy-
sical structure, and its animal and vegetable pro-
ductions.

The length of Java, in a straight line drawn be-
tween its extreme points, is about six hundred and
sixty-six statute miles ; its breadth varies from about
one hundred and thirty-five to fifty-six ; and it is

76 MEMOIR OP

estimated to contain an area of nearly fifty thousand
square miles. The western and northern coasts
abound with hays and inlets, the maritime districts
are generally separated from each other hy rivers,
those in the interior, often hy ranges of hills and
mountains ; there are many excellent harbours se-
cure against the violence of the sea and wind, and
capable of being rendered impregnable to hostile
attacks.

There are no lakes of any great size, for that
name cannot be given to the ratvas or swamps,
which, though swelled to a considerable size in the
wet season, are, for the rest of the year, either dried
up, or choked by vegetation. But no region is per-
haps better watered, or more singularly favoured in
the number of its streams, than Java. The size of
the island does not admit of the formation of large
rivers ; but there are probably fifty that in the wet
season bear down rafts charged with timber and
rough produce of the country ; and not less than
five or six, the Solo, the Awi, the Surabaya, the
Chikondi, &c., are at all times navigable to the dis-
tance of some miles from the coast. Along the
northern coast, almost every district has its princi-
pal river, and most of them are navigable, up to the
maritime capitals, for native vessels of considerable
burden ; but they all have the disadvantage of be-
ing partially blocked up at their embouchures by
extensive bars and mud-banks; an evil which is
extending with the increase of agriculture, by rea-

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 77

son of the quantity of soil necessarily washed down
in the process of irrigating the land for the rice cul-
tivation. Most of them require the application of
jetties, or piers, to deepen the passage at their en-
trance. In some parts extensive swamps are found ;
and among the hills, several very beautiful lakes of
small dimensions are discovered, some of them
evidently formed of the craters of extinct volcanoes.
In summing up what may be called his geographi-
cal and physical description of the island, the author
thus proceeds. " The general aspect of Java, on the
northern coast, is low; in many places swampy,
and overgrown with mangrove trees and bushes,
particularly towards the west. The southern coast,
on the contrary, consists almost entirely of a series
of rocks and cliffs, which rise perpendicularly to a
considerable height. In the interior, stupendous
mountains stretch longitudinally throughout the
island ; while others of an inferior elevation, and in-
numerable ranges of hills, running in various direc-
tions, serve to form and confine plains and valleys
of various elevations and extent. On the northern
side, the ascent is in general very gradual from the
sea- coast to the immediate base of the mountains ;
particularly in the western parts of the island, where
it has the greatest breadth, and where the moun-
tains are situated far inland. In approaching the
mountains which lie at the back of Batavia, there
is a gradual but almost imperceptible declivity for
about forty miles ; in other parts, where the hills

78 MEMOIR OF

approach nearer to the coast, the ascent is of course
more ahrupt, as may be observed in the vicinity of
Samarang.

" Although the northern coast is in many parts
flat and uninteresting, the interior and southern
provinces, from the mountainous character of the
country, may be reckoned among the most romantic
and highly diversified in the world ; uniting all the
rich and magnificent scenery which waving forests,
never-failing streams, and constant verdure can pre-
sent, heightened by a pure atmosphere, and the
glowing tints of a tropical sun. Large tracts, par-
ticularly in the mountainous ranges of the western
districts, still remain in a state of nature ; or where
the ground has been once cleared of forests, are now
overrun with long rank grass. In the central and
eastern districts, the country is comparatively well
clothed with cultivation.

" Quitting the low coast of the north, in many
parts unhealthy, the traveller can hardly advance
five miles inland without feeling a sensible improve-
ment in the atmosphere and climate as he proceeds ;
at every step he breathes a purer air, and surveys a
brighter scene. At length he reaches the high
lands; here the boldest forms of nature are tem-
pered by the moral arts of man ; stupendous moun-
tains clothed with abundant harvests, impetuous
cataracts tamed to the peasant's will. . Here is per-
petual verdure ; here are tints of the brightest hue.
In the hottest season, the air retains its freshness ;

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 79

in the driest, the innumerable rills and rivulets pre-
serve much of their water ; this the mountain farmer
directs, in endless conduits and canals, to irrigate
the land, which he had laid out in terraces for its
reception ; it then descends to the plains and spreads
fertility wherever it flows, till at last, by numerous
outlets, it discharges itself into the sea/'

To strangers, the bold outline and prominent fea-
tures of the scenery are peculiarly striking. An
uninterrupted series of huge mountains, varying in
their elevation above the sea from five to eleven or
twelve thousand feet, and exhibiting by their round
base, or pointed tops, their volcanic origin, traverse
the whole length of the island. Some of these are
seen from the roads of Batavia, and from their ap-
pearance are usually termed by mariners the u Blue
Mountains." From the eastern parts of the Gede,
the volcanic series separates into two independent
branches, one of which inclines to the south; the
other proceeds almost due east, slightly verging to
the north. The former breaks into an irregular
transverse range, which extends across the island
till it approaches the northern branch, from whence
the general series is continued in an easterly direc-
tion as far as the Sindoro, the western of the two
mountains known by the name of the Two Brothers.
There are various others running in different direc-
tions, but all agreeing in the general attribute of
volcanoes, having a broad base gradually verging
towards the summit in the form of a cone. Most

80

MEMOIR OF

of them have been formed at a very remote period,
and are covered with the vegetation cf many ages ;
but the indications and remains of their former
irruptions are numerous and unequivocal. The
craters of several are completely extinct ; those of
others contain small apertures, which continually
discharge sulphurous vapours or smoke. Many of
them have had irruptions during late years, of
which an interesting account has been given in the
Batavian Transactions, by Dr. Horsfield, who ex-
amined them.

One of the most disastrous of these on record,
was that of the Papandayang, the greater part of
which was swallowed up in the earth, together with
an immense number of people, after a short but
severe combustion, in the year 1 772. " The account
(says Dr. Horsfield) which has remained of this
event asserts, that near midnight, between the llth
and 12fch of August, there was observed about the
mountain an uncommonly luminous cloud, by which
it appeared to be completely enveloped. The in-
habitants about the foot, as well as on the declivities
of the mountain, alarmed by this appearance, be-
took themselves to flight ; but before they could
all save themselves, the mountain began to give
way, and the greatest part of it actually fell in and
disappeared. At the same time a tremendous noise
was heard, resembling the discharge of the heaviest
cannon. Immense quantities of volcanic substances,
which were thrown out at the same time and spread

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 81

in every direction, propagated the effects of the
explosion through the space of many miles. It is
estimated that in extent of ground, of the moun-
tain itself and its immediate environs, fifteen miles
long and full six broad, was by this commotion
swallowed up in the bowels of the earth. Several
persons sent to examine the condition of the neigh-
bourhood, made report that they found it impossible
to approach the mountain, on account of the heat of
the substances which covered its circumference, and
which were piled on each other to the height of
three feet, although this was the 24th of September,
full six weeks after the catastrophe. It is also
mentioned that forty villages, partly swallowed up
by the ground, and partly buried by the substance
thrown out, were destroyed on this occasion ; and
that 2957 of the inhabitants perished. A pro-
portionate number of cattle was also destroyed ;
arid most of the plantations of cotton, indigo, and
coffee, in the adjacent districts, were buried under
the volcanic matter. The effects of that explosion
are still very apparent in the remains of this
volcano."

Alluvial districts, evidently of recent origin, are
noticed in several parts of the island. These are
formed from the sediment, and near the discharge
of large rivers, and at the border of the calcareous
ridges, which are in many instances partially ruined
by them ; their boundary can easily be traced, and
most of them are in a state of constant progres-

YOL. VIII. F

OX MEMOIR OF

sion. Among other phenomena, are mineral wells
of various temperature and impregnation ; wells of
naphtha or petrolium ; and rivers arising in a few
cases from the craters of volcanoes impregnated
with sulphureous acid. From these and all other
investigations yet made, the constitution of Java
appears to be exclusively volcanic ; it may, indeed,
he considered as the first of a series of volcanic
islands, which extend nearly eastward from the
Straits of Sunda for about twenty-five degrees.

" At what period (says our author) the island
assumed its present shape, or whether it was once
joined to Sumatra and Bali, is matter for conjec-
ture. The violent convulsions which these islands
have so often suffered, justify a conclusion that the
face of the country has frequently changed, and
tradition mentions the periods when Java was sepa-
rated from those islands ; but the essential diffe-
rence which has been found in the mineralogical
constitution of Java and Sumatra, would seem to
indicate a different origin ; and to support the
opinion that those two islands were never united.
Whether at a period more remote, the whole archi-
pelago formed part of the continent of Asia, and
was divided from it, and shattered into islands ;
whether they were originally distinct from the main*
land ; or whether they were formed at the same
time or subsequently, are questions we cannot re-
solve. Yet when we reflect on the violence of
those dreadful phenomena which have occurred in

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 83

our own times, in the smaller islands of the volcanic
series, (for example the eruption of the Tomhero
mountain in the island of Sumatra, in April 1815,
which embraced a circle of a thousand miles around
it), and view this range as it is now presented to
us on the map of the world, a conjecture perhaps
might be hazarded, that the whole may have once
formed but the southern side of one large island or
continent, within which much of the mainland has
fallen in, and subsequently disappeared in the influx
of the sea."

The constitution of Java is unfavourable to metals,
and it may be laid down as a general position, that
these no where occur in such a quantity, or with
such richness of ore, as to reward the operations of
the miner. Iron pyrites is found in small quantity
in several districts, as well as red ochre, which,
however, often contains so little iron as scarcely to
serve for the common purpose of paint. There are no
diamonds or other precious stones; but many minerals
of the schorl, quartz, potstone, feldspar, and trap
kind. Prase and hornstone are abundant in parti-
cular situations, as well as flint, chalcedony, hyalite,
common jasper, jasper-agate, obsidian, and por-
phyry. The soil is for the most part rich and deep,
resembling the finest garden-mould of Europe ; and
wherever it can be exposed to the inundation ne-
cessary for the rice-crop, requires no manure, and
will bear without impoverishment one heavy and
one light crop in the year. The poorest, with this

84 MEMOIR OF

advantage, will yield a liberal return to the hus-
bandinan. The seasons depend upon the perio-
dical winds; the westerly, which are always attend-
ed with rain, are generally felt in October, become
more steady in November and December, and
gradually subside till March or April, when they
are succeeded by the easterly winds and fair weather,
which continue for the remaining half-year. The
heaviest rains are in the months of December and
January, and the driest weather in July and August ;
at which latter period, also, the nights are coldest
and the days hottest. Thunder storms are frequent,
and the lightning extremely vivid.

Java is distinguished not only for the abundance
of its vegetation, but for its extraordinary variety.
Dr. Horsfield, who directed his sole attention many
years to the natural history of the island, had col-
lected in his herbaria, in the year 1816, upwards
of a thousand plants, of which a large proportion
were new to the science of botany. Between the
tops of the mountains and the sea-shore, Java may
be said to possess at least six different climates,
each furnishing a copious indigenous botany, while
the productions of every region in the world may
find a congenial spot somewhere in the island.
Vegetable productions, which contribute to the food
and sustenance of man, are found in great variety.
Of these the most important is rice, which forms
the staple grain of the country. Maize, or Indian
corn, ranks next, and is principally cultivated in

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 85

the higher regions ; the bean is an important article
of food; the sugar-cane, of which they reckon
eight varieties, they use only in its raw state ; coffee,
pepper, indigo, tobacco, anniseed, cinnamon-seed,
cubebs, &c., are cultivated, and collected for various
purposes in diet and medicine. Besides the cocoa-
nut, and other productions more generally knoAvn,
there are many trees growing spontaneously, of
which the seeds and kernels are used as food.
Wheat and potatoes, with almost every species of
European vegetable, are cultivated with success.
The true sago of Amboina and the Eastern Islands
is found only solitary in a few low and marshy
situations, and the preparation of it from the pith of
the tree is not known to the inhabitants of Java,
who make use of the leaves only for covering their
houses.

No region of the earth is better supplied with
indigenous fruits; the mango, the plantain, the
guava, the pine-apple, the papow, the custard-apple,
the pomegranate, and almost every species which
grows within the tropics, are here found in the
greatest variety. The tamarind-tree is general ;
there are also many kinds of oranges, lemons,
citrons, and in particular the pumple-moos (the
shaddock of the "West Indies), with various others
not generally known in Europe, but well calculated
for the table.

A great variety of ornamental trees and shrubs
have been enumerated which bloom in perpetual

86 MEMOIR OF

succession throughout the year, and impregnate
the air with their fragrance. Among the medicinal
plants, many are employed in the daily practice of
the natives, of which a large proportion have not
heen subjects of investigation or experiment by
Europeans. Different sorts of vegetable substances
are used in dyeing. Of these the principal is the
indigo, which is extensively cultivated; and the
wong-kudu, which affords a lasting scarlet. Oi
forest-trees, the most valuable is the teak, of which
there are several varieties, differing in quality ; the
harder kind is selected for ship-building, the inferior
is used for domestic purposes.

Among other useful trees may be noticed the
soap-tree, the fruit of which is used in washing
linen; the kasemak, from the bark of which is
made a varnish for umbrellas; the sampang, the
resin of which is prepared into a shining varnish for
the wooden sheaths of daggers; the cotton-tree,
whose silky wool is used for stuffing pillows and
beds; the wax-tree, whose kernel, by expressure,
produces an oil that may be burnt in lamps or con-
verted into candles, and affords an agreeable odour ;
the bendud, a shrub producing the substance out
of which India-rubber is prepared; torches ate
made of it for the use of those who search for birds'
nests in the rocks, and it serves for winding round
the stick employed to strike musical instruments, to
soften the sound.

Among the vegetable productions of Java, none

SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 87

has excited more interest than the celebrated upas,
or poison tree, of which as many wonderful stories
have been told as of the centaur, the Lernean hydra,
or any other of the classic fictions of antiquity.
These extravagant fables have often been refuted
by naturalists ; and it is only among the ignorant, or
the dupes of the poet and the popular orator, that
the romances on the subject of the upas find be-
lievers. A fatal poison is, no doubt, prepared
from the sap, mixed with various other substances ;
but without this process it is said to be harm-
less.

Of the useful or domestic animals, Java may be
said to be deficient ; neither the elephant nor the
camel is a native; the former is rarely imported,
and the latter is unknown. Neither the ass nor
the mule is found; but there is a fine breed of
small horses, strong, fleet, and well made. A still
finer breed is imported from Bima, on the neigh-
bouring island of Sumbawa, which, by competent
judges, has been said to resemble the barb in every
respect, except size. They seldom exceed thirteen
hands, and in general are below this standard.
The bull and cow are general, and the breed has
been greatly improved by the species introduced
from continental India. The most essential animal
is the buffalo, from its being generally employed in
agriculture. Goats are numerous, but sheep scarce ;
and both are of a small size.

The aggregate number of mammalia in Java, has

88 MEMOIR OP, ETC.

been estimated at about fifty. The habits and
manners of the larger animals, the tiger, leopard,
black tiger, rhinoceros, stag, two species of deer,
ten varieties of the wild hog, &c., are sufficiently
known ; but the banting, or Javari ox, the buffalo,
the varieties of the wild dog, the weasel, and squirrel,
and most of the smaller quadrupeds, still present
curious subjects for the study of the Naturalist.
Next to the rhinoceros, which sometimes injures
plantations, the wild hogs are the most destructive
animals. They are often poisoned (or intoxicated,
according to the quantity they consume) by the
kalek kambiny, or by the refuse from the preparation
of Irons.

The birds include many species belonging to
Europe > The domestic fowls are the same ; among
the birds of prey the eagle is not found, but there
are several varieties of the falcon. They have the
carrion-crow and the owl; but only two of the
parrot kind; and in large forests the peacock is
very common. The number of distinct species of
birds has been estimated not greatly to exceed two
hundred, of which upwards of one hundred and
seventy have been described, and are already con-
tained in the collections made on account of the
English East India Company.

NATURAL HISTORY

OP

GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.

TETRAONIM: OR GROUSE.

IN fulfilment of our promise stated at the conclu-
sion of the last volume, we now proceed to consider
another family among the Rasores or Gallinaceous
birds — the Tetraonidce or Grouse.*

The Tetraonidse or Grouse contain the principal
part of those birds which, in sporting language, have
been called game. Very few of these have been do-
mesticated for the use of man, but their preservation
in a wild state, and means for an abundant capture,
have in all ages exercised the ingenuity of the inha-
bitants of civilized districts, and at this time form a
large account in the luxuries of populous cities ; while
in countries in a state of purer nature, they are much
used as a wholesome and general food.

* Mr Selby has undertaken the description of the beau-
tiful Columbidse or Pigeons ; and Thirty Drawings from the
pencil of Mr Lear are now in the hands of the engraver.

90

NATURAL HISTORY OF

Among the true Gallinaceous birds, we find tlie
different members living very much upon the ground,
the power of flight limited, from the great weight
of their bodies or unwieldiness of plumage, and very
commonly an extraordinary development of the parts
composing the tail. In the present family, the
ground is still their prevailing habitation, though
many of them frequently perch and roost on trees.
Their power of flight is ample, very strong, in some,
as the genus Pterocles, extremely rapid, but in a
few forms almost as little used as among the Pa-
vonidse. Some portion of these useful birds are
spread over every region of the world, and in almost
all localities. The section of the grouse to which
the muir-fowl of Britain and the ptarmigan belong,
occupy the wild heathy districts of the temperate
circle, and extend to the most barren and alpine moun-
tains, or the extremes of polar cold. The true
grouse, again, to which the European wood grouse
belongs, occupy the forest and bushy grounds, and ex-
tend almost as far. The partridges prefer open coun-
tries free from wood, and draw near to cultivation ;
but within the tropics there are one or two forms,
which, like the grouse, prefer the brush and wood,
where, on the branches, they are safer from the at-
tacks of the numerous tribes of reptiles which swarm
around them. The gangas, again, or, as they have
been named, the sand grouse, frequent the most bar-
ren districts in the world, the plains of India and the
trackless deserts of Africa and Arabia, far from the

GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.

liaunts of men, and almost as far from food and wa-
ter, but endowed with powers for extensive locomo-
tion, they traverse in a day leagues of the waste.

A few species are polygamous like the former fa-
mily, the males at dawn seeking some eminence, and
attracting the females by their continued calls, strut-
ting around and displaying their plumage ; but by
far the greater number are monogamous, and regu-
larly pair. The male remains near his consort du-
ring incubation, and both sedulously attend upon
and defend the young, which keep together in coveys
until the warmth of the following spring excites new
desires, and causes their separation. All breed up-
on the ground, making scarcely any nest, and, with a
few exceptions, they lay a number of eggs. In one
or two instances, two broods are hatched in the sea-
son, but this is rare, and only continues where the
regions inhabited are very warm. The cry of most
of these birds is harsh, in a few deep and hoarse ; it
is uttered only in the breeding season, in cases of
dispersion, and at morn and even like a roll-call to
see that none are wanting. The plumage is subject
to considerable variation between the males and fe-
males during the breeding season, and in those which
inhabit northern regions or alpine districts, a change
of plumage in winter, different from that of spring
or summer, takes place.

Among the true grouse, such as the wood-grouse,
black-cock, and beautiful birds of America, the males
are distinguished by a plumage of deep glossy blue k

92 NATURAL HISTORY OF GALLINACEOUS BIRDS.

tinted with blue or green, or they have broad and
conspicuous patches of these colours mingled with
the other shades. The females are invariably of a
brown or greyish-brown ground tint, barred or waved
with black. The plumage of the young differs from
both in being of paler shades, and in the markings
being more irregular and confused. In the Lago-
pus or ptarmigan the males are deep brown or yel-
low, barred with black and a lighter shade ; females
always of a lighter tint, and the paler markings more
conspicuous. In winter the change is to pure white,
having the quills or tail-feathers only dark. Among
the partridges and quails the difference is not gene-
rally so great, but there is always some distinguish-
ing mark, often black or deep brown. The wattles,
caruncules, and naked spaces, so frequent about the
heads of the Pavonidae, we find represented in the
beautiful scarlet skin above the eyes, and which in
soring becomes much developed and brightened in
colour.

In the arrangement of these birds, Mr Swainson
has pointed out what he considers may be the typi-
cal forms, although he thinks that a little examination
is still necessary. They are Perdix, Tetrao, Cryp-
tonix, Ortygis, and Crypturus. We shall now pro-
ceed to examine these, together with the different
genera which bave been established, and shall com-
mence with

93

PERDIX,— BRISSON.

The partridges appeal- to form one point of con-
nection between the present family and that wmch
formed the subject of our last volume, through the
guinea-fowl. There are many resemblances in their
habits and dispositions, harsh cry, and in numerous
instances the spotted plumage. The Perdix da-
mater of Temminck may perhaps be mentioned as
one of the birds forming this passage. It is remark-
able for its loud harsh cry, which, says Temminck,
like the guinea-fowl, it delights incessantly to repeat,
particularly at daybreak and dusk, when the broods
assemble to perch on the trees and woods which
overhang the rivers. It is in many ways, says the
same author, connected with our pintadoes, and may
one day form an addition to our poultry-yard, the
Cape colonists having already succeeded in rearing
them in captivity.

The genus Perdix was established by Brisson,
taking the common European partridge as typical,
but it was made to contain an assemblage of birds,
some of which will not even rank among the family.
The quails and the strong-billed American partridges
have been separated by modern systematists. Ste-
phens made another separation in the Francolins with

94 PERDIX.

spurred legs, and there are several other modified
forms which will undoubtedly form subgenera, such
as the large bare-necked pheasant-looking partridges
of Africa, but as we do not think the present work
suitable for characterising new genera, or for enter-
ing into minute distinctions, with the exception of
Ortyx and the Quails, we have kept them under the
denomination of Perdix, but will point out the most
marked distinctions as they occur. We have repre-
sented as typical of the true partridges —

THE

Perdiv cii erea. -ALDROVANDUS, RAY.

PLATE I.
Perdix einerea, Montague, Latham, Bewick, Selby, &c.

A detailed description of this familiarly known
bird is unnecessary. It is distributed extensively
over Europe, and, according to Temminck, extends
to Barbary and Egypt, where it is migratory. It
is almost everywhere abundant in our own island,
the more northern muiry districts excepted. It fol-
lows the steps of man as he reclaims the wastes,
and delights in the cultivation which brings to it as
to the labourers a plentiful harvest of grain. They
are perhaps most abundant in the lower richly culti-
vated plains of England, but even the south of Scot-
land supplies many of the more northern markers
with this game.

Very early in spring — the first mild days even of
February — the partridges have paired, and each
couple may be found near the part selected for their
summer abode, long before the actual preparations
for incubation has commenced. These are begun at
a later period than generally imagined, and even in
the beginning of September, particularly in the wilder

yO THE COMMON PARTRIDGE.

districts, the young are not more than half grown.
The nest is formed, or rather the spot where the eggs
are to be deposited, is scraped out in some ready made
hollow or furrow, or placed under cover of a tuft of
grass, and from twelve to twenty eggs are deposited.
This mode of nidification prevails through the whole
genus. No nest is made, and often no great care
of concealment is displayed. In cultivated countries
the young grasses and corns are their favourite
breeding places, the former often fatal from the hay-
harvest having commenced before the brood is
hatched. The choice of a place of security for their
eggs are not always the same, for Montague mentions
a pair which successively selected the top of an old
pollard oak, and Mr Selby writes of having known
several parallel cases. It is a singular trait in the
habits of many birds, that those often of a wild na-
ture will select the most frequented parts for their
nests. Both partridges and pheasants are often dis-
covered with the nest placed within two or three
feet of a highway or foot path, where there is a
daily passage of men and animals. The parents, as
if knowing their safety depended on sitting close,
remain quiet amidst all the bustle, and often hatch
in such places.

During incubation the male sedulously attends,
and will generally be found near if the female is in-
truded upon by any of her less formidable enemies.
When the brood is hatched, both lead about the young
and assist them to their food ; and mild and timid

THE COMMON PARTRIDGE. 97

as the partridge is generally described, instances
have been seen where the love of offspring prevailed,
and a vigorous defence was successfully maintained
against a more powerful assailant. Among the many
instances of such defence mentioned by various
authors, we shall notice one of the latest which
Mr Selby has recorded in the last edition of his
History of British Ornithology* : — " Their parental
instinct, indeed, is not always confined to mere de-
vices for engaging attention ; but where there ex-
ists a probability of success, they will fight obsti-
nately for the preservation of their young, as appears
from many instances already narrated by different
writers, and to which the following may be added,
for the truth of which I can vouch. A person en-
gaged in a field, not far from my residence, had his
attention arrested by some objects on the ground,
which, upon approaching, he found to be two par-
tridges, a male and female, engaged in battle with a
carrion-crow ; so successful and so absorbed were
they in the issue of the contest, that they actually
held the crow, till it was seized, and taken from
them by the spectator of the scene. Upon search,
the young birds (very lately hatched) were found con-
cealed amongst the grass. It would appear, there-
fore, that the crow, a mortal enemy to all kinds of
young game, in attempting to carry off one of these,
had been attacked by the parent birds, and with the
above singular success." Such displays are, how-

Vol. i. p. 435.
VOL. VIII. Q

98 THE COMMON PARTRIDGE.

ever, comparatively seldom witnessed or indeed ex-
ercised, for nature has implanted another device in
the greater numbers of this family, in which the or-
gans of defence are in reality weak, against their
many assailants, both animal and feathered. Strata-
gem is resorted to, and the parent feigns lameness
and even death to withdraw the aggressor. The
noise and confusion which occurs when a person
suddenly and unawares comes on a young brood of
partridges is remarkable. The shiieks of the parents
apparently tumbling and escaping away with broken
legs and wings is well acted, and often succeeds in
withdrawing the dog and his young attendant be-
yond the possibility of discovering the hiding places
of the brood. When this is attained, their wonted
strength is soon recovered, a flight to a considerable
distance is taken, but by the time the aggressor has
reached the marked spot, the bird has again circui-
tously come up with her charge, and is ready to act
her part if again discovered.

Partridge shooting is one of the most esteemed
sports of the British fowler ; and when pursued in a
sportsman-like manner, with finely bred dogs, is of
considerable interest. The county of Norfolk has
been long celebrated for the number of its partridges,
as well as for her zealous agriculturist, Mr Coke, one
of the first shots in the kingdom. The following ac-
count from Pierce Egan's anecdotes, will give some
idea both of the abundance of the partridge, and the
excess to which the sport may be carried

THE COMMON PARTRIDGE. 99

" The bet between Mr William Coke and Lord
Kennedy, was for 200 sovereigns a-side, play or pay,
who shot and bagged the greatest number of par-
tridges in two days sporting ; both parties to shoot
on the same days, the 26th of September 1823, and
the 4th of October in the same season. Mr William
Coke to sport upon his uncle's manors in Norfolk ;
and Lord Kennedy in any part of Scotland he pleased.
The result of Mr Coke's first day's shooting was
eighty and a half brace of birds bagged. On Satur-
day, October 4, Mr W. Coke took the field soon af-
ter six o'clock in the morning ; he was accompanied
by his uncle, T. W. Coke, Esq. M. P., and by two
umpires ; Colonel Dixon for Mr Coke, and F. S.
Blunt, Esq. for Lord Kennedy ; also by two of his
friends, Sir H. Goodrich, Bart., and F. Hollyhocke,
Esq. He was attended by several gamekeepers,
and by one dog only, to pick up the game. Several
respectable neighbouring yeomen volunteered their
services in assisting to beat for game, and rendered
essential service throughout the day. Mr Coke
sported over part of the Wigton and Egmere manors.
The morning was foggy, and the turnips were so wet
that the birds would not lie among them. Veiy little
execution was done, in consequence, in the early part
of the day ; in the two first hours only six brace of
birds were bagged. The day cleared up after eight
o'clock, and the sportsman amply made up for his
lost time. He found birds plentiful among Mi-
Denny's fine crop of turnips on the Egmere farm,

100 THE COMMON PARTRIDGE.

and in one and twenty acre breck of Swedes, he
bagged thirty- five and a half brace of birds. He
concluded his day's sport soon after six in the even-
ing, and had then bagged eighty-eight brace of birds,
and five pheasants ; but a dispute having arisen
among the umpires about one bird, Colonel Dixon
gave the point up, and the number was ultimately
declared to be eighty-seven and a half brace of birds
bagged ; pheasants and other game not counted in
the match ; so that Mr W. Coke's number of birds
bagged in the two days shooting, stands 173 brace.
He had much fewer shots in the second than in the
first day, but he shot better, as will be seen from the
comparative number of birds bagged. On Saturday
he bagged 180 birds from 327 shots, which was con-
sidered good shooting in a match of this nature,
when a chance, however desperate it may appear, is
not to be thrown away. His uncle, T. W. Coke,
Esq. loaded a great part of the gun on Saturday,
and as a finale to the day's sport, shot at and killed
the last bird, which his nephew had previously missed
Lady Ann Coke was in the field a great part of the
day ; her ladyship carried refreshments for the sports-
men in her pony gig. Lord Kennedy chose for the
scene of his exploits Montreith, in Scotland, a manor
belonging to Sir William Maxwell, considered equal
to any lands in Scotland for rearing partridges. On
the first day of trial his lordship bagged fifty, and on
the second, eighty-two brace, being in all 132 brace
of partridges in two days."

THE COMMON PARTRIDGE. 101

Varieties of the partridge frequently occur, the
most common are those varied with white, which
sometimes prevails through a whole covey. Speci-
mens entirely of a cream-colour are also not unfre-
quent, and here, although the tint may be said to be
uniform, the various markings of the plumage appear
conspicuous in different lights, as if from a variation
of the structure of the feathers. But the most cu-
rious variety of the partridge is one which, by many
authors, has been thought to be distinct — the Perdix
montana. We have given a representation of this
variety on our next plate, from a specimen in the
Edinburgh Museum.

THE MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE.

Perdix cinerea. — var. Montana.
PLATE II

THIS variety has been said to be more frequently
found in alpine districts than in lowlands, but they
are known to mingle occasionally with those of com-
mon plumage. The colour is remarkable to be as-
sumed as a variety, though it is often, we may say,
generally mingled with whitish or reddish-white. The
whole plumage is of deep sienna-brown, and this
colour, somewhat like that of the common grouse,
prevails in many species entirely upon the breast*

102 THE MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE.

lower parts, and shoulders. The specimens are ge-
nerally less than those of ordinary plumage.

The partridge, therefore, seems to have a more
extensive range of variation than almost any bird we
are acquainted with, and according to Temminck
and some other authors, is somewhat influenced by
almost every change of climate. Those broods which
frequent and are bred on the marshy grounds of the
Zuyder Zee and mouth of Meuse are less in size and
of a duller tint than those found in the drier lands of
Belgium. Dry or parched districts, abundance of food
and water, will always influence their condition, and
it is to the same causes, with variation of climate, that
Temminck attributes the migrations of the partridge
on some parts of the continent, and which are also
said to be of a smaller size than those which do not
migrate. This migratory bird has by some been
also raised to the rank of a species, and named the
Damascus partridge. By the modern ornithologists
of this country, it is very little known, or its claims
upon 'which even the variety rests ascertained, beyond
the fact of its migration. And our latest, or indeed
only authority from actual examination, is that of
Temminck, who says that among many individuals
he has been able to discover no good distinctions.

Our next illustration is from a very beautiful spe-
cies inhabiting the continent of India ; it is

PIRATE m.

ve of India.

THE PAINTED PARTRIDGE.

Perdije picta— JARD. AND SELBY.
PLATE III.

Perdix picta, Jardine and Selby^s Illustrations of Ornitho-
logy, vol. i. pi. 1.

THIS very beautiful species, belonging to the
true partridges, is a native of the plains of India,
and of late years has not unfrequently been brought
in collections to this country ; yet, notwithstand-
ing, it is to be regretted that little is known of its
habits. The following is a description of the speci-
men from the neighbourhood of Bangalore, from
which the original of our plate was taken. The
crown is brown, with the margins of the feathers
yellowish-white; the face, region of the eyes and
auriculars, pale brownish-orange ; the hinder part
of the neck pale buff; the centre of each feather
black ; the front and sides of the neck white, spotted
with black ; the breast, belly, and flanks, beautifully
spotted with black and yellowish-white ; the ground
of each feather may be said to be black ; and on each
web there are two, and sometimes three, round spots
of yellowish-white, which leave, as it were, a bar

104

THE PAINTED PARTRIDGE.

across, and a line along the patches, those at the end
have the extremity with a black margin. The up-
per part of the back and wings deep brown, with
round spots of yellowish white, and with the margins
of the feathers wood-brown; the lower part of the
bafck and rump transversely barred with black and
white ; quills barred with hair-brown and pale red-
dish-orange ; upper tail-coverts brown, delicately
waved with irregular bars of black and white. Tail
brownish-black, with narrow white bars, principally
at the base of the feathers ; vent and under tail co-
verts deep orange-brown.

v

o

ETvsri

105

THE ROCK OR BARBARY PARTRIDGE.

Perdix petrosa — LINNAEUS.
PLATE IV.

The Red-Legged Partridge from Barbary, Edwards'1 Birds,
pi. 70 __ Lath. General History, vol. viii. p. 293 — Perdix
petrosa, Latham. — Temminck, Pigeons et Gallinaces, iii.
Ind. p. 727 — Perdix Gambra, Temminck, Pigeons et Gal-
linaces, iii. 368.

WITH this handsome bird we enter a small group
of the partridges which are remarkable for the beau-
tifully marked and shewy appearance of the feathers
covering the flanks. The general tint of plumage is
very regular throughout ; the bill and legs are always
red, and the latter are sometimes slightly spurred
and knotted. They inhabit Europe, the north of
Africa, and India. The most familiar example will
be the common Red-legged, French, or, as it is
sometimes termed, Guernsey Partridge ; but we have
selected two equally beautiful, but less known birds,
as examples of it.

The Rock or Barbary Partridge inhabits the most
southern countries of Europe, stretching into Spain.
and thence upon the coast of Africa. It is also met

106 THE ROCK OR BARBARY PARTRIDGE.

with upon the banks of the Gambia, and in the island
of Teneriffe. It delights in rocky districts, and the
rugged precipices of the southern Alps, and seldom
or never strays down upon the plains. The accom-
panying figure will convey an idea of the colours of
this species. It is distinguished from all the others
by the patch of deep chestnut upon the sides of the
neck, beautifully relieved by the clear white spots.
It is not very commonly met with in collections,
being like almost all the birds of southern Europe,
more difficult to be procured than those of more dis-
tant countries.

The next we shall mention is

THE CHUKAR PARTRIDGE.

Perdix chukar — LATHAM.
PLATE V.

Perdix chukar, Gould's Century r, vol. Ixxi. — Gray^s Illus-
trations of Indian Zoology.

THE general colour of the upper plumage is ash-
grey, tinged with a shade of purple, particularly
across the centre of the back ; a deep black line passes
across the forehead through the eyes, and extends
downwards in a crescent form upon the sides of
the neck and chest, the throat, and inside of the
circle, being pale yellowish-white. The breast is
nearly of the same colour with the centre of the
back, but paler, and the rest of the lower parts
are of a dull yellow. The conspicuous barring on
the sides is alternately yellowish-white, chestnut, and
black.

We are indebted to Mr Gould for the use of his
illustration, taken from a Himalayan specimen. That
gentleman also tells us that specimens are alive in
the Zoological Garden, where they have the same
pugnacious and irritable temper of the Common Red-

108

THE CHUKAR PARTRIDGE,

legged Partridge, being perpetually at war with their
fel!ow captives.

These figures will give a tolerable idea of this
small group. The others belonging to it are the Greek
Partridge, Perdix saxatilis of authors, so very close-
ly allied to the last, as by many to be considered
identical ; the distinctions have never been clearly
pointed out, and it is a bird very likely to extend to
India. Plate V. will shew what has been considered
P. Chukar.

The Greek Partridge is found abundantly upon
the German Alps of middling height, never descend-
ing to the plains or low valleys. They remain in
small coveys until the breeding season, when they
pair like the others, the female making her nest in
more concealed situations under the roots of trees,
or among stones or rocks, covered with brush. The
eggs are yellowish- white, indistinctly blotched with
reddish-yellow. They scarcely stretch into France,
being found only sparingly in some of the higher
mountainous provinces. It is most abundant in the
Ottoman empire, in the Greek Islands, and in the
south of Italy.

The other is the Perdix Rufa or Red-legged
Partridge. The last has now been introduced into
several of the southern counties of England, and ap-
pears to succeed and multiply. As game, however,
they are esteemed neither by the sportsman or epi-
cure, their flesh being much drier than that of the
ordinary bird, while their skulking habits upon

THE GREEK PARTRIDGE. 109

alarm, the great speed with which they run, and
their unwillingness to take flight, prevents them being
sought after in the field. Both the last are occa-
sionally subject to be spotted, and nearly white va-
rieties occur.

The next partridge we shall notice is one of the
most beautifully marked.

110

THE COMMON FRANCOLIN.

Perdix francolinus — LATHAM.

PLATE VI.

Perdix francolinus, Latham, General History, viii. p. 271.
— Le Francolin, Buffon, PL enluminee, M. and F. pis. 147
and 148. — Francolin a Colier Rousse, Temminck, Pigeons
et GaUinaces, iii. p. 340.

THE Common Francolin has been placed at the
extremity of those with one or more spurs upon
the legs, of a very much barred and spotted plu-
mage, the bill stronger, the tail more lengthened,
and forms the genus Francolinus of Stephens. All
the members of it perch as well as frequent the
ground, and in some of the species, the legs are
armed with spurs of very great strength and sharp-
ness. We have represented the common bird, as it is
the only European species, though not the most ty-
pical.

The Francolin is a native of the south of Europe,
Sicily, and the islands of the Greek Archipelago,
Africa, and India, where it inhabits the marshy
grounds, and thence has received the name of Mea-
dow Partridge. In Africa, particularly upon the
coast of Barbary, and in India, it is every where
esteemed for its excellency at the table, and ad-

THE COMMON FRANCOLIN. Ill

mired for its fine plumage. It is not a large spe-
cies, the male scarcely exceeding twelve inches in
length ; the colouring is black, white, rufous, and
yellowish-brown, disposed in decided and contrast-
ed markings of large patches, spots, or bars, but yet
so distributed as to want all harshness, and to have
a chaste and blended appearance. The female wants
all the deep black and white markings of the male,
as well as the rufous collar; the ground colour of the
plumage is a yellowish-brown, waved and barred
with umber-brown, and having the markings of the
wings and tail nearly the same as in the male, but of
a paler colour.

Our next bird is a very singularly formed species
It is

112

THE SANGUINE PARTRIDGE.

Perdix cruentatus — TEMMINCK.
PLATE VII.

Phasianus cruentatus, Trans, of Lin. Soc. vol. xiii. p. 237
— Sanguine Pheasant, Lath. General History, p. 205.—
Francolin ensanglante, Perdix cruentata, TemmincJc, PL
Coloriees, pi. 332.

THIS bird has also been placed among the Fran-
colins, on account of the spurred tarsi, but it is pro-
bable it will stand ultimately as some subgenus, being
one of those birds which are almost neither one thing
nor another. It forms the connexion in some points
between the present family and the Pavonidee. The
remarkable parts of its structure are the lengthened
form of the feathers of the head and neck, the bril-
liant tints of the plumage, and, like the polyplectron,
having sometimes one, two, or three spurs upon the
tarsi, which are themselves more slender and length-
ened than those of most of the others. It inhabits
the upper parts of the unexplored districts of Nepaul,
and adds another to the many splendid and peculiar
gallinaceous birds, which are there so abundant.

It was first described in the Transactions of the

Native of Nena.ul.

THE SANGUINE PARTRIDGE. 113

Linnean Society, under the name of Phasianus,
a name at once implying its connections. A se-
cond description and figure appeared in the Planches
Coloriees of Temminck, and our present represen-
tation is from a specimen in the Edinburgh Mu-
seum. The male is about 16 inches in length,
and the accompanying Plate will sufficiently de-
tail the colours without a description. It lias re-
ceived its specific name from the blotches of red
upon the breast, and the rich crimson which adorns
the tail and its coverts. The legs are irregularly
spurred, two sometimes on one and only one on
the other. In Temminck's figure two are repre-
sented on the one leg, and on the other four, in two
pairs. The female is said to resemble the male in
the colours, except in being duller in hue ; the size
is less and the legs are without spurs. This is
rare bird in collections.

It would be impossible in our present limits to de-
scribe every species of the larger groups of this fa-
mily, but before proceeding to the quails, we shall
notice one or two other birds. There is a beautiful
bird from the deserts of Acaba in Arabia, which
Temminck has dedicated to Mons. Hey, the compa-
nion of Ruppel. Perdix Heyii is of size interme-
diate between the common partridge and the quail,
and is now mentioned from the resemblance which
it bears to the Red-legged Rock and Barbary par-
tridges, in the nearly uniform tint of the upper plu-
mage ; the feathers on the flanks are also bordered

VOL. Till. H

114 THE SANGUINE PARTRIDGE.

with black upon the sides, while the legs, feet, and
bill are bright red. The tail, rump, and secondaries,
again, shew the beautiful delicate barring seen in
those parts of the common francolin and painted par-
tridge.

There is a small Indian group among the partridges
which also deserves notice. The wings are more
ample and rounded, the tail short, the body more
clumsy ; the bill and legs strong, and the feet large.
They inhabit principally the Indian islands, frequent-
ing the skirts of the mountain forests. The Perdix
Javanica of Latham, Perdix megapodia, Temminck,
and Perdix personata, Horsfield, are examples of
this form. Another form we noticed before was
the pheasant-like partridges of Africa, so similar to
the females of these birds, that, with the addition of
the tail, they might be passed off to an ordinary ob-
server. Perdix bicalcarata of Latham will exemplify
*,his. To these perhaps might also be added another
remarkable bird, the hackled partridge of Latham, of
which there seems an uncertainty regarding its na-
tive country. Dr Latham's bird was in the Leverian
Museum, and was supposed to have come from the
Cape of Good Hope ; while Temminck, upon the au-
thority of Sonnerat, makes it a native of Eastern
Asia. The most remarkable feature in the plumage
of this otherwise soberly dressed bird is in the feathers
on the back and sides of the neck and upper part of
the back being of an inch and half long, and hackle-
shaped, as in the common cock, and in their colour

THE SANGUINE PARTRIDGE. US

they possess the changing greenish tints of the cocks
and pheasants. It is a very rare bird, and much to
be regretted there is nothing known of its habits.

We shall now proceed to the Quails, and as cha-
racteristic of these neat little birds have repre-
sented

116

THE COROMANDEL QUAIL.

Coturnix textilis TEMMINCK.

PLATE VIII.

Coromandel Quail, Latham, General History, viii. p. 310. —
Caille Nattee, Coturnix textilis, Temminck, Pigeons et
Gattinaces, iii. p. 512. PL Colonies, pi. 35.

THE Quails, forming the genus Coturnix of mo-
derns, are at first sight so similar to the partridges,
that they are not to be distinguished without a know-
ledge of their habits, and examination of their forms.
In the bill and legs there are slight modifications,
but the form of the wing is quite different, the first
three quills being longest, while in the partridges the
third is the longest, and a rounded wing of less
power is the consequence. It may be recollected
that, though the partridges were said to migrate in
some countries, the migration is comparatively very
partial, and often only from one part of a con-
tinent to another ; on the other hand, almost all
the quails migrate to a certain distance, and hence
perform lengthened journeys often across the seas.
In their habits they also shew considerable dif-
ference, as they never perch. They often assem-
ble in large flocks after the breeding season : and al-

THE COROMANDEL QUAIL. 117

.hough they pair regularly, so soon as the female
commences to sit, she is left alone, and the male at-
tends no longer, nor afterwards assists in protecting
the brood. They delight in cultivated countries,
and never frequent woods. They are found in Eu-
rope, Asia, Africa, and New Holland. The allied
birds of America come under a different section.

The pretty little species figured will give an ex-
act idea of the form of the quails. It is rather less
than the European species, being in length only
about six inches. The upper parts somewhat resem-
ble those of the common bird, but are more broad-
ly marked, while the deep black markings on the
lower parts at once distinguish it, and are beautifully
relieved from the paler parts of the breast and belly.
The female differs from the male in wanting the
greater part of the black on the lower parts, indica-
tions of the two bands on the throat being only seen.
The breast is reddish-brown, the feathers with a
black centre, and the other lower parts are of a dull
white. This quail seems abundant, and is pretty
generally distributed over the continent of India.

Among the quails there are many beautifully mark-
ed species, all of diminutive size. We shall only,
however, be able to notice that of Europe, an occa-
sional visitor to Britain.

118 THE COMMON QUAIL.

THE COMMON QUAIL

Seems to be generally distributed over the old
world, though, in the south of Europe, it is perhaps
as abundant as elsewhere. In Britain they may now
he termed only an occasional visitant, the numbers
of those which arrive to breed having considerably de-
creased, and they are to be met with certainty only in
some of the warmer southern or midland counties of
England. Thirty years since they were tolerably
common and regular in their returns ; and even in
the south of Scotland a few broods were occasional-
ly to be found. In these same districts they are
now very uncertain. We have known of broods
twice, and occasionally have shot a straggler appa-
rently on its way to the south. They are extremely
difficult to flush after the first time. The nest is
made by the female, but, like the partridges, the
eggs are deposited almost on the bare ground ; these,
also, unlike the uniform tint which we find prevailing
in those of the true partridges, are deeply blotched
with oil-green, and, except inform, are somewhat si-
milar to those of the snipe. In France they are
very abundant ; and besides supplying the markets of
that country, thousands are imported alive by the
London poulterers, and fattened for the luxury of the
metropolis.

They are taken by nets, into which they are decoyed

THE COMMON QUAIL. 119

by imitating their call. On the coast of Italy and Si-
cily, and all the Greek islands, they arrive at certain
seasons in immense numbers. An hundred thousand
are said to have been taken in one day. They are run
after during the flight like the passenger pigeons of
America, and a harvest is gathered when the numbers
are greatest. In Sicily, crowds of all ages and degrees
assemble on the shore. The number of boats is even
greater ; and enviable is the lot of the idle appren-
tice, who, with a borrowed musket or pistol, no mat-
ter how unsafe, has gained possession of the farthest
rock, where there is but room for himself and his
dog, which he has fed with bread only, all the year
round for these delightful days, and which sits in as
happy expectation as himself for the arrival of the
quails.* Ortygia was named from them ; and so
abundant were they on Capri, an island at the en-
trance of the Gulf of Naples, that they formed the
principal revenue of the bishop of the island. From
twelve to sixty thousand were annually taken ; and
one year the capture amounted to one hundred ana
sixty thousand. In China, and in many of the east-
ern islands, and Malacca, they are also very abund-
ant, performing regular migrations from the interior
to the coast. Here they are domesticated along with
a small species of Ortygis, and trained to fight.
Large stakes are risked upon the result, as in the
cockpit. They are also used by the Chinese to warm
their hands in cold weather, their bodies being thought
* Gait's Travels.

120 THE COMMON QUAIL.

to contain a large proportion of animal beat, from the
pugnacious disposition of their tempers.

The common quail has the crown of the head and
hack of the neck black, each feather margined with
chestnut ; and down the centre of the head and neck
there is a cream-yellow streak. Over each eye, and
proceeding down the neck, is a white streak : chin
and throat chestnut-brown, mixed with blackish-
brown. Back scapulars and wing-coverts black, the
feathers margined and varied with brown, and each
having its shaft and central parts sienna-yellow. The
breast and belly are pale buff or orange, the shafts and
margins of the feathers yellowish-white. Tail black-
ish-brown, with the shafts, tips, and base cream-
yellow. In the female there is no black or brown
on the neck and throat. Her breast is spotted with
blackish -brown, and the general tints of her plumage
are paler. Pure white on spotted varieties some-
times occur.

We must now describe a singular American bird,
of whose station we are by no means certain. — It is

' J.ixars Sc.

(Latreille'sAttagis.1)

Na.tJ.ve o£ Chili.

121

LATREILLE'S ATTAGIS.

Attagis Latrelllei — LESSON.
PLATE IX.

L' Attagis de Latreille, Attagis Latreillei, Less. Illustrations
de Zooloffie.

Two species of these curious birds have heen fi-
gured by Lesson, the one in his "Zoological Century,"
the other in his " Illustrations," the latter of which has
now served for our copy. Both are from Chili ; but
we regret that nothing has been communicated re-
garding their habits, or the districts in which they
are found, and conjecture only is set to work to place
them in their proper situation. The present species
is about eight inches in length, therefore not much
exceeding the size of the common quail. The bill
appears formed somewhat like that of pterocles, but
the feet and tarsi are unplumed. It is probable that
they may hold the same place in the vast South
American plains, which the ganga does in the more
sterile deserts of the old world. The tints of the
plumage in both are blended with chaste shades of
brown.

There is another bird of which Lesson and Esrh-

122 LATREILLE'S ATTAGIS.

scholtz make a genus, — Tinochorus, which ap-
proaches near to this, and is also a native of South
America ; but from want of materials, it can only be
now indicated.

When these are better known, we have no doubt
of their proving very interesting forms, and filling up
some blank in the present family of birds. We shall
now proceed to a small group, better, though but
imperfectly, known, the American Quails, included
under the genus Qrtyx* The first we shall notice

123

THE VIRGINIAN QUAIL OR PARTRIDGE.

Ortyx Virginianus. — BONAPARTE.
PLATE X.

Quail or Partridge, Perdix Virginianus, Wilson's American
Ornithology, pi. xlvii. — Perdix borealis, Temminck, Pig. et
Gallin. — Ortyx borealis, Stephens, Continuation. — Ortyx
Virginianus, Bonaparte, Synopsis, p. 124.

THE genus Ortyx was formed by Stephens, the
continuator of Shaw's General Zoology, for the re-
ception of the thick and strong-billed partridges of
the new world. They hold the same place there
with the true partridges, francolins, and quails of
the other parts of the globe, living on the borders of
woods, among brushwood, or in the thick grassy
plains, and occasionally frequenting cultivated fields
in search of grain or roots. During night they ge-
nerally roost on trees, and occasionally perch on them
by day, particularly when alarmed, when they im-
mediately take refuge, aud even walk with ease up-
on the branches. Their general shape is robust, the
bill is strong, and apparently fitted for a mode 01
feeding requiring considerable strength, such as the
digging up of bulbous or tuberous roots. The co-
lours of the plumage are generally different shades

124 THE VIRGINIAN QUAIL OR PARTRIDGE.

of brown, red, orange, grey and white. The head
is almost always crested.

This bird is best known by the description of
Alexander Wilson. Audubon has also figured a
whole covey on one of his immense plates. It is a
general inhabitant of North America, from the nor-
thern parts of Canada and Nova Scotia, to the ex-
tremity of the peninsula of Florida. They become
very familiar, frequenting the vicinity of well culti-
vated plantations ; but when alarmed, seek shelter
in the woods, perching on the branches, or secreting
themselves among the brushwood. Where not too
much persecuted by the sportsman, they become al-
most half domesticated, approach the barn, particu-
larly in winter, and sometimes in that severe season,
mix with the poultry to glean up a subsistence.
Immense havock is at this season made among them
with the gun and by snares, and they are sold in the
markets from twelve to eighteen cents each.

They begin to build early in May, and, according
to Wilson, the nest is made most carefully. It is form-
ed on the ground, usually at the bottom of a thick tuft
of grass, that shelters and conceals it ; the materials
are leaves and fine dry grass, in considerable quan-
tity ; it is well covered above, and an opening left
on one side for entrance. The female attends the
young when hatched with great care, and performs
the same part of counterfeiting lameness with our
own partridge. They have been frequently brought
up by placing the eggs under the common hen, and

THE VIRGINIAN QUAIL OK PARTRIDGE. 125

become very domesticated, but always desert in the
first spring, when the season of incubation com-
mences. *

Among the many methods taken to capture these
birds, one related by Audubon seems eminently suc-
cessful. A cylindrical net is used thirty or forty
feet in height, and about two in diameter, except at
the mouth, where it is wider. This is fixed to the
ground with the mouth open, and two additional
pieces of net are fixed at each side, to enlarge as it
were the entrance, Into this the birds are driven
by a number of persons on horseback, who surround
the covey when discovered. Fifteen or twenty par-
tridges are thus often caught at one driving, and
sometimes many hundreds during the day.f

The Virginian partridge has been attempted to be
introduced in several parts of the European conti-
nent, but we are uncertain with what success. They
have also been tried in some of the English counties.

Our next Plate exhibits one of the most beautiful
of the genus —

* Wilson's North American Ornithology. -f Audubon.

126

THE CALIFORNIAN ORTYX.

Qrtyx Californica. — STEPHENS.
PLATE XL

Californian colin, Ortyx Californica, Stephens, Continua-
tion, vol. xi. p. 384. — Californian Quail, Gardens of Zoo-
Logical Society, ii. p. 29. a beautiful woodcut.

THIS graceful and beautifully marked species is
found in the low woods and plains of California, and
was met with during both the voyages of La Pe-
rouse and Vancouver ; and a figure is given in the
atlas of plates accompanying the former. A single spe-
cimen, part of the produce of the latter voyage, was
deposited in the British Museum, and served for the
descriptions and figures given in this country, pre-
vious to the return of Captain Beechey from his voy-
age to the Pacific, &c., who brought with him speci-
mens alive. One on-ly survived its arrival to the
Zoological Gardens, but seemed to bear the change
of climate perfectly.

The general colour of the upper plumage is a
brownish-grey. The feathers on the back and sides
of the neck have a deep black margin, and often a
white tip. The throat is deep rich black, but be-
tween and the angular markings of the sides there

THE CALIFORNIAN ORTYX. 127

is a crescent band of pure white. The feathers of
the lower part of the belly are deeply margined with
black, and the long plumes of the flanks are marked
along the centre with a stripe of yellow. But the
beautiful and remarkable adornment is the crest up-
on the crown, composed of several feathers, narrow
at the base broadening towards the tip, and folded
as it were together from the shaft. They are of a
dull rich black and lie generally backwards, but can
be raised at pleasure ; and upon any excitement are
erected, almost bending forward upon the front.

128

THE LONG-TAILED ORTYX.

Ortyx macroura. — JARD. and SELBY.

PLATE XII.
Ortyx macroura, Illust. of Ornithol. pi. xlix.

ON this Plate we have figured a species of Ortyx,
of a form at variance with those already noticed, be-
ing remarkahle for its long and broadly formed tail.
We regret that nothing is known of its habits. It is
a native of Mexico, and the only specimen we know
of was purchased at the sale of Bulloch's Mexican
collection. Its length is about 13 inches, the bill
very strong, and with the legs orange-red. The
feathers on the crown, throat, and cheeks are black,
those on the head lengthened into a crest and tipped
with reddish-brown. A line of reddish-white ex-
tends above the eyes and auriculars, and loses itself
on the sides of the neck ; another of the same colour
runs under the eyes upon the auriculars. The back,
sides of the neck, and upper parts of the breast, are
reddish-brown ; the middle of the belly and vent
silvery grey, passing into bluish-grey, and minutely
freckled with black. The rest of the upper parts are
wood-brown, barred and spotted with black, and

~*

THE LONG-TAILED ORTYX. 129

blotched with large spots of yellowish-white. The
length of the tail-feathers is 5^ inches, they are broad
and rounded.

Several other species are known. Two were
brought to this country by Mr Douglas from his jour-
ney to Columbia; one has been denominated 0. picta,
which is also crested. This bird, says Mr Douglas,
congregates in vast flocks in the interior of California
from October to March, and seem to live in a state of
perpetual warfare. Dreadful conflicts ensue between
the males, which not uncommonly end in the de-
struction of one or both combatants, if we may judge
from the number of dead birds daily seen plucked,
mutilated, and covered with blood. When feeding
they move in compact bodies, each individual endea-
vouring to outdo his neighbour in obtaining the prize.
During winter, when the ground is covered with
enow, they migrate in large flocks to more temperate
places in the vicinity of the ocean.

Ortyx Douglasii is another bird said to be dis-
tinct, so named by Mr Vigors, and brought by Mr
Douglass nearly from the same country. Ortyx
Montesumce, capistratay and Sonnini, are all rare
and beautiful species.

From these birds we shall now commence an ac-
count of the true grouse, Tetrao, the typical group
of the family.

VOL. VIIT.

130

GROUSE.

BY the word Grouse, we, in general language, are
most apt to associate our ideas with the common
Muirfovvl. But in the technical terms of Ornitho-
logy, the generic name Grouse and Tetrao is re-
stricted to those bearing the form of the European
wood-grouse, Dusky grouse of America, &c. They
are the largest birds of the family, of a very round
and powerful form, and frequent heathy forests in
preference to the wild and open muir, perch and of-
ten roost on trees, where young shoots and tender
bark also supply them with food ; and although the
legs are plumed with short feathers, the toes are
naked. The tail is composed of broad feathers and
is proportionally long and rounded. They are most-
ly polygamous, and the females and young differ
considerably from the males, the plumage of the for-
mer being shades of brown and tawny, with black
bars and markings, the colours of the latter distri-
buted in broad masses of black, glossy green or steel-
blue, and deep brown. They inhabit North Ame-
rica and Europe, those of the latter country extend-
ing into Northern Asia.

'l

r rw

UNIVERSITY

THE WOOD GROUSE OR CAPERCAILZIE.

Tetrao urogallus — LINNAEUS.

Tetrao urogallus, Linnceus — Wood Grouse, Pennant — Te-
trao auerhan, Temminck, Manuel, ii. p. 457.

PLATE XIII.

AT the head of this section we place the caper-
cailzie — the "giant grouse" as he is somewhere
termed. First in size and first in noble bearing, his
strong and hooked bill and robust form resemble
more a bird of prey than one of the Gallinse. The
capercailzie was certainly the noblest of the British
feathered game, but the attributes of strength, size, and
beauty, have proved his destruction, and they have
been for many years extinct. In ancient times they
were tolerably abundant in the primeval forests of
Scotland and Ireland. From the latter they appear
to have been entirely extirpated at a very early pe-
riod; while in Scotland the destruction was more
gradual, but they dwindled away, and the last spe-
cimen is recorded from fifty to sixty years since to
have been killed in the neighbourhood of Inverness.
There is, however, a prospect of the species being
again introduced to the Scottish forests, and the fol-
lowing interesting account of the attempts which

132 THE WOOD GROUSE OR CAPERCAILZIE,

have been made at Mar Lodge, and of the habits of
the female and young, will be read with interest.

" I was wading down the Dee one fine afternoon,
a little below Mar Lodge, and with a lighter pannier
than usual, when I heard the cry of a bird to which I
was unaccustomed, and my bad success in that day's
angling, induced me the more readily to diverge
from the ' pure element of waters,' to ascertain what
this might be. I made my way through the over-
hanging wood for a few hundred yards, and soon af-
ter reaching the road, which runs parallel with the
river on its right side, I observed a wooden palisade,
or enclosure, on the sloping bank above me. On
reaching it, I found it so closely boarded up, that I
had for a time some difficulty in descrying any in-
mates, but my eye soon fell upon a magnificent bird,
which at first, from its bold and almost fierce ex-
pression of countenance, I took rather for some great
bird of prey than for a Capercailzie. A few seconds*
however, satisfied me, that it was, what I had never
before seen, a fine living example of that noble bird
I now sought the company of Mr Donald Mackenzie.
Lord Fyfe's gamekeeper, the occupant of the neigh-
bouring cottage. He unlocked the door of the for-
tress, and introduced me to a more familiar acquain-
tance with its feathered inhabitants. These I found
to consist of two fine capercailzie cocks and one hen,
and the latter, I was delighted to perceive, accorr-
panied by a thriving family of young birds, active
and beautiful.

THE WOOD GROUSE OR CAPERCAILZIE. 133

" The first importation of these capercailzies ar-
rived from Sweden about the end of the year 1827,
or early in January 1828. It consisted of a cock
and hen, but the hen unfortunately died after reach-
ing Montrose Bay. As the male bird alone arrived
at Braemar, the experiment was judiciously tried of
putting a common barn-door fowl into his apartment
during the spring and summer of 1 828. The result
was, that she laid several eggs, which were placed
under other hens, but from these eggs only a single
bird was hatched, and when it was first observed it
was found lying dead. It was, however, an evident
mule, or hybrid, and shewed such unequivocal marks
of the capercailzie character as could not be mistaken.
" The second importation likewise consisted of a
cock and hen, and arrived safely in this country in
January or February 1 829. The female began to
lay in the ensuing April, and laying in general an
egg every alternate day, she eventually deposited
about a couple of dozen. She shewed, however, so
strong a disposition to break and eat them, that she
required to be narrowly watched at the time of lay-
ing, for the purpose of having them removed, for
otherwise she would have destroyed the whole. In
fact, she did succeed in breaking most of them, but
eight were obtained uninjured. These were set
under a common hen, but only one bird was hatched,
and it died soon after. In the spring of 1830, the
hen capercailzie laid eight eggs. Of these she broke
only one, and, settling in a motherly manner on the

13 1 THE WOOD GROUSE OR CAPERCAILZIE.

other seven, she sat steadily for five weeks. On
examining the eggs, however, they were all found
to be addle.

" In the early part of 1831, three apartments were
ingeniously formed adjoining one another. The
hen was placed in the central chamber, between
which and the enclosure on either side, each of which
contained a male, there was an easy communication;
so contrived however, that the female could have ac-
cess to both the males, whilst they, from their greater
size, could neither approach each other, nor disturb
the female aa long as she chose to remain in her own
apartment. In May and June of that year she laid
twelve eggs, seven of which were set under a com-
mon hen. Of these, four were hatched in an appa-
rently healthy state, one was addle, and the other
two contained dead birds. Of those left with the ca-
percailzie hen, she broke one, and sat upon the other
four, of which two were hatched, and the other two
were found to contain dead birds. Of the two
hatched one soon died. Both the barn-door hen
and the female capercailzie sat twenty-nine days,
from the time the laying was completed till the young
were hatched ; and Mr Gumming calls my attention
to the fact, that there were birds in all the eggs of
this year's laying except one.

" My visit to Braemar took place about the first
week of last August. I think all the five young
were then alive, and although only a few weeks old,
they were by that time larger than the largest moor-

THE WOOD GROUSE OR CAPERCAILZIE. 135

game. I had no opportunity of handling them, or
of examining them very minutely, but the general
view which I had of them, at the distance of a few
feet, did not enable me to distinguish the difference
between the young males and females. They seemed
precisely the same at that time both in size and plu-
mage, although I doubt not the male markings must
have soon shewn themselves on the young cocks.
The single surviving bird of those hatched by the
mother died of an accident, after living in a very
healthy state for several weeks. Two of those
hatched by the common hen died of some disease,
the nature of which is not known, after lingering for
a considerable time. It follows that there are only
two young birds remaining. These are both fe-
males, and when I last heard of them some months
ago, were in a thriving condition.

" The whole progeny were fed at first, and for
some time, with young ants, — that is, with those
whitish grain-shaped bodies, which are the larvae and
crysalids in their cocoons of these industrious crea-
tures, though commonly called ant's eggs. At that
period they were also occasionally supplied with
some tender grass, cut very short. As soon as they
had acquired some strength, they began to eat oats
and pot barley, together with grass and the various
kinds of moss. They are now fed like the three
old birds, chiefly on grain and heather tops, with the
young shoots, and other tender portions of the Scotch
fir. I am informed that the distinction between the

136 THE WOOD GROUSE OR CAPERCAILZIE.

sexes had become very obvious before the death of
the young males. The plumage of the latter was
much darker, their general dimensions were greater,
their bills larger and more hooked. These characters
became very apparent during November and Decem-
ber.

" The old males have never yet had access to the
young birds, so that it has not been ascertained whe-
ther they entertain any natural regard for their off-
spring, or would manifest any enmity towards them.
From the continued wildness of the old birds, espe-
cially the males, it was found difficult to weigh them,
without incurring the risk of injuring their plumage.
However, the male which arrived in 1829, and which
then appeared to be a bird of the previous year, was
lately weighed, and was found to be eleven pounds
nine ounces avoirdupois. Judging from appearances,
it is believed that the weight of the old hen would
not much exceed one half. There is, indeed, a
striking disparity in the dimensions of the sexes in
this species.

" The intention is, as soon as some healthy broods
have been reared in confinement, to liberate a few in
the old pine woods of Braemar, and thus eventually
to stock with the finest of feathered game the noblest
of Scottish forests." *

In addition to the forests of the north of Britain,
the wood-grouse inhabits those of the continent of Eu-
rope, and is indeed more abundant there than ever it

* James Wilson, in Jameson's Journal for July 1832.

THE WOOD GROUSE OR CAPERCAILZIE. 137

could have been in this country. It also seems to
extend to several districts of Northern Asia. It is
perhaps most abundant in some parts of Russia, Nor-
way, and Sweden, and it is from thence that an annua.
supply of this and another bird, the Tetrao medius,
is furnished to the London markets. In these coun-
tries they frequent the deep and far-spreading forests
of pine, feeding on the young shoots and cones, the
catkins of the birch, and berries of the juniper which
form the underwood. They are polygamous, and at
the commencement of incubation, the male places
himself conspicuously, and attracts the female by
his loud cries, " resembling Peller, peller, peller, and
various attitudes. On hearing the call of the cock,
the hens, whose cry in some degree resembles the
croak of the raven, or rather, perhaps, the sounds
Gock-gock, gockj assemble from all parts of the sur-
rounding forest. The male bird now descends, from
the eminence on which he was perched, to the
ground, where he and his female friends join com-
pany." * When the females really commence incuba-
tion, they are forsaken, the males skulking among
the brushwood and renewing their plumage, while she
attends to the hatching and rearing of her progeny.
The male is nearly three feet in length, and gains
a weight of sometimes fifteen pounds. The feathers
of the head and cheeks are elongated, and during his
displays of courtship, the former are raised, and those
on the cheeks brought forward. The back of the
* From Lloyd*s Northern Field Sports.

138 THE WOOD GROUSE OR CAPERCAILZIE.

neck, back and sides, are, when minutely observed,
delicately varied witb brown, grey, and black. The
lower part of the breast and belly are black, gene-
rally interspersed with a few white feathers, and the
forepart of the breast is of a rich glossy green, the
feathers thick and compact, and when seen in some
lights, emit a very brilliant lustre of golden green
and blue, whence the old appellation of " peacock
of the woods." The female is considerably less,
bearing even more disproportion in size than many
of the others ; the colours of the plumage disposed
in crescent markings of black upon a ground of rich
brown. For the first autumn, the young males are
nearly similar to the females, the brown tint being
rather deeper ; but before the ensuing spring, they
receive the greater part of their adult plumage.

The wood grouse is extremely shy, and in Ger-
many he is reckoned an excellent hunter who can
say that he has killed twenty or thirty males. Tem-
minck mentions one person particularly celebrated,
who had shot fifty. They can only be approached
during the time when the male calls the hens around
him, and even the greatest delicacy and caution of
approach is necessary. They are reckoned royal
game, and the female is prohibited, under a severe
penalty, to be shot.* The great numbers, however,
of indiscriminate sexes which are brought to Lon-
don, shew that this prohibition is not everywhere
attended to, and that the approach of the males is
* Temminck.

THE WOOD GROUSE OR CAPERCAILZIE. 139

also not so difficult. Neither is the season attended
to, for in Norway particularly, the female is some-
times shot from her nest.

In addition to what has been given of the habits
of this noble bird, it will be interesting to insert the
following from Lloyd's " Northern Field Sports."

" The capercailzie is often domesticated in Swe-
den ; indeed, at both Uddeholm and Risater, as well
as in other places, I have known these birds to be
kept for a long period in aviaries built for the pur-
pose. These were so perfectly tame as to feed out
of the hand. Their food principally consisted of oats
and of the leaves of the Scotch fir, large branches of
which were usually introduced into their cages once
or more in the course of the week. They were also
supplied with abundance of native berries, when pro-
curable. They were amply provided at all times
with water and sand : the latter of which was of a
rather coarse quality, and both were changed pretty
frequently.

" In farther corroboration of the fact, that the ca-
percailzie will breed when in confinement, I make
the following quotation from Mr Nilsson's work.
That gentleman's authority was the Ofwer .Director
af Uhr ; and the birds alluded to were at a forge in
the province of Dalecarlia.

" ' They were kept together during the winter in
a large loft over a barn, and were fed with corn, and
got occasionally a change of fresh spruce, fir, pine,
and juniper sprigs. Early in the spring, they were

140 THE WOOD GROUSE OR CAPERCAILZIE.

let out into an inclosure near the house, protected
by a high and close fence, in which were several
firs and pines, the common trees of the place. In
this inclosure they were never disturbed ; and du-
ring the sitting season no one approached, except
the person who laid in the meat, which at that time
consisted of barley, besides fresh sprigs of the kinds
before mentioned. It is an indispensable rule that
they shall have full liberty, and remain entirely un-
disturbed, if the hens are to sit and hatch their young.
As soon as this had occurred, and the brood were
out, they were removed to the yard, which was also
roomy, and so closely fenced that the young ones
could not escape through ; and within this fence
were hedges and a number of bushes planted. Of
the old ones, one of the wings was always clipped,
to prevent their flying. I have seen several times
such broods both of black game and capercailzie,
eight to twelve young ones belonging to each hen.
They were so tame, that, like our common hens,
they would run forward when corn was thrown to
them. They should always have a good supply of
sand and fresh water.'

" According to Mr Nilsson, ' when the caper-
cailzie is reared from the time of being a chicken, he
frequently becomes as tame as a domestic fowl, and
may be safely left by himself. He however seldom
loses his natural boldness ; arid, like the turkey cock,
will often fly at and peck people. He never becomes
so tame and familiar as the black cock.

THE WOOD GROUSE OR CAPERCAILZIE. 141

" * Even in his wild state, the capercailzie fre-
quently forgets his inherent shyness, and will attack
people when approaching his place of resort. Mr
Adlerberg mentions such an occurrence. During a
number of years, an old capercailzie cock had been
in the habit of frequenting the estate of Villinge at
Wermdo, who, as often as he heard the voice of
people in the adjoining wood, had the boldness to
station himself on the ground, and during a continual
flapping of his wings, pecked at the legs and feet of
those that disturbed his domain.

" « Mr Brehm, also, mentions in his Appendix,
page , a capercailzie cock that frequented a wood
a mile distant from Renthendorf, in which was a
path or roadway. This bird, so soon as it perceived
any person approach, would fly towards him, peck
at his legs, and rap him with its wings, and was with
much difficulty driven away.'

" At the period of the year of which I am now
speaking, I usually shot the capercailzie in company
with my Lapland dog, Brunette, (a cocker,) of which
I have already made mention. She commonly flush-
ed them from the ground, where, for the purpose of
feeding upon berries, &c. they are much during the
autumnal months. In this case, if they saw only
the dog, their flight in general was short, and they
soon perched in the trees. Here, as Brunette had
the eye of an eagle arid the foot of an antelope, she
was not long in following them. Sometimes, how-

142 THE WOOD GROUSE OR CAPERCAILZIE.

ever, those birds were in the pines in the first in-
stance ; but, as my dog was possessed of an extra-
ordinarily fine sense of smelling, she would often
wind, or, in other words, scent them from a very
long distance.

" When she found the capercailzie, she would sta-
tion herself under the tree where they were sitting,
and, by keeping up an incessant barking, direct my
steps towards the spot. I now advanced with silence
and caution ; and as it frequently happened that the
attention of the bird was much taken up with ob-
serving the dog, I was enabled to approach until it
was within the range of my rifle, or even of my com-
mon gun.

" In the forest, the capercailzie does not always
present an easy mark ; for, dipping down from the
pines nearly to the ground, as is frequently the case,
they are often almost out of distance before one can
properly take aim. No. 1 or 2 shot may answer
very well, at short range, to kill the hens ; but for
the cocks, the sportsman should be provided with
much larger.

" Towards the commencement of, and during the
continuance of the winter, the capercailzies are gene-
rally in packs ; these, which are usually composed
wholly of cocks, (the hens keeping apart,) do not se-
parate until the approach of spring. These packs,
which are sometimes said to contain fifty or a hun-
dred birds, usually hold to the sides of the numerous

THE WOOD GROUSE OR CAPERCAILZIE. 143

lakes and morasses with which the northern forests
abound ; and to stalk the same in the winter-time
with a good rifle is no ignoble amusement.

" Among other expedients resorted to in the
northern forests, for the destruction of the capercailzie,
is the following : — During the autumnal months, af-
ter flushing and dispersing the brood, people place
themselves in ambush, and imitate the cry of the old
or young birds, as circumstances may require. By
thus attracting them to the spot, they are often en-
abled to shoot the whole brood in succession. The
manner in which this is practised may be better un-
derstood from what Mr Greiff says on the subject.

" * After the brood has been dispersed, and you
see the growth they have acquired, the dogs are to
be bound up, and a hut formed precisely on the spot
where the birds were driven from, in which you
place yourself to call ; and you adapt your call ac-
cording to the greater or less size of your young
birds. When they are as large as the hen, you ought
not to begin to call until an hour after they have
been flushed ; should you wish to take them alive
the common net is placed round him who calls. To-
wards the quarter the hen flies, there are seldom to
be found any of the young birds, for she tries by her
cackling to draw the dogs after her, and from her
young ones. As long as you wish to shoot, you
must not go out of your hut to collect the birds you
have shot. When the hen answers the call, or lows
like a cow, she has either got a young one with her

144 THE WOOD GROUSE OB CAPERCAILZIE.

or the calling is incorrect ; or else she has been
frightened, and will not then quit her place. A
young hen answers more readily to the call than an
old one/

" In other instances, the capercailzie is shot in the
night-time, by torch-light. This plan, which is said
to be very destructive, is, I believe, confined to the
southern provinces of Sweden, for in the more
northern parts of that country I never heard of its
being adopted.

" In Smaland and Ostergothland, this is said to
be effected in the folio wing manner: — Towards night-
fall, people watch the last flight of the capercailzie
before they go to roost. The direction they have
taken into the forest is then carefully marked, by
means of a prostrate tree, or by one which is felled
especially for the purpose. After dark, two men
start in pursuit of the birds : one of them is provided
with a gun, the other with a long pole, to either end
of which a flambeau is attached. The man with the
flambeau now goes in advance, the other remaining
at the prostrate tree, to keep it, and the two lights
in an exact line with each other ; by this curious con-
trivance they cannot well go astray in the forest.
Thus they proceed, occasionally halting, and taking
a fresh mark, until they come near to the spot where
they may have reason to suppose the birds are roost-
ing. They now carefully examine the trees ; and
when they discover the objects of their pursuit, which
are said stupidly to remain gazing at the fire blazing

DUSKY GROUSE. 145

beneath, they shoot them at their leisure. Should
there be several capercailzies in the same tree, how-
ever, it is always necessary to shoot those in the
lower branches in the first instance ; for, unless one
of these birds falls on its companions, it is said the
rest will never move, and, in consequence, the whole
of them may be readily killed."

There is another fine European grouse, somewhat
allied to the capercailzie, Tetrao medius of Meyer ;
the Rakkelhan of the Germans. It is chiefly found
in the north of Russia, Sweden, and Courland. In
size it is scarcely inferior to the first, being, accord-
ing to Temminck, two feet three, four, and five inches
in length. The same author describes this bird as
having also lengthened plumes upon the head and
throat, which are raised during the love-season, or
upon any irritation. The head, neck, and breast are
rich black, with purple and bronzed reflections. The
back and rump are black, but the feathers are termi-
nated with a violet reflection, and each is marked with
minute pale dotings. The belly is black, with some
dashes of white on the centre. The scapulars and
lesser wing-coverts are deep brown, marked with
delicate yellowish irregular waves. The secondaries
are white from their base for half their length, than
brownish-black, and terminated with a tip of white-
The tail very slightly forked, and upper coverts are
black, the under coverts tipped with white. The
female has nearly the same distribution of the plum-
age with the former species. Both species extend
VOL. vrn. K

DUSKY GROUSE.

into Asia, but are entirely different from any of the
species on the American continent, which we shall
next notice.

The first of the American birds coming nearest in
size and form to those we have been just describing,
is the Dusky Grouse, Tetrao obscurus of Say, which
was first noticed to science by that gentleman in his
description of the various productions, the reward of
the expedition to the Rocky Mountains. Bonaparte
figured his specimen a female ; and in this country
two beautiful representations of both sexes appeared
in the Northern Zoology. It is known to inhabit
the Rocky Mountains from latitude 4-0° to 64°. In
length it is about two feet ; and the plumage exhi-
bits the beautiful glossy tints of the others, mixed
with grey and white.

The next of the American grouse which we have
to notice is

147

THE CANADIAN GROUSE.

Tetrao Canadensis. — LINNAEUS.
PLATE XV."

Tetrao Canadensis, Bonaparte's Continuation. — Variety,
North. ZooL ii. pi. 61.

THE figure of this species is taken from a speci-
men in the Edinburgh Museum, and from the dis-
tribution of the colouring, strongly resembles the
markings of the variety dedicated to Captain Frank-
lin as distinct. Among several of the lesser grouse,
there is a certain variety in the tints and distribution
of the plumage ; and during the breeding season, and
at the different ages, these become very different in-
deed. On these accounts, we do not consider that
sufficiently distinctive marks have yet been assigned
to the birds which have been designated T* Cana-
densis and Franklinii.

The entire length is about seventeen inches. It
is common in Hudson's Bay through the whole year.
It inhabits Canada in winter, and abounds on the
Rocky Mountains. " The favourite haunts of the
spotted or Canada Grouse," writes Bonaparte, " are
pine woods and dark cedar swamps, in winter re-
sorting to the deep forests of spruce, to feed on the
tops and leaves of these evergreens, as well as on
the seeds contained in their cones, and upon juniper
berries. Hence their flesh, though at all times good,

* Tliis Plate comes before Plate XIV. which faces p. 127.

148 THE CANADIAN GROUSE.

is much better in summer, as in winter it has a strong
flavour of spruce. At Hudson's Bay, where they
are called indifferently Wood or Spruce Partridge,
they are seen throughout the year. Like other
grouse, they build on the ground, having perhaps
fewer eggs ; these are varied with white, yellow and
black. They are easily approached, being unsuspi-
cious, by no means so shy as the common ruffed
grouse, and are killed or trapped in numbers, with-
out much artifice being necessary for this purpose.
When much disturbed, like their kindred species,
they are apt to resort to trees, where, by using the
precaution of always shooting the lowest, the whole
of the terrified flock may be brought down to the
last bird." Mr Douglas says that they (the var,
Franklinii) are the most common birds in the val-
leys of the Rocky Mountains from 50° to 60°, and
that some small troops are found in the higher moun-
tains, which form the base of the snowy peaks. The
alarm-note is two or three hollow sounds, ending in
a yearning disagreeable grating note, like the latter
part of the call of the Guinea fowl. The male is
represented on the accompanying plate ; the female
is smaller, more varied, with less of black, and more
of dusky ; the upper parts are confusedly mottled
with dull rusty orange and grey. The sides of the
head, throat, and all the neck below, are dull rusty
brown, each feather varied with black ; on the lower
part of the breast the black bands are broad and very
deep, alternating equally with rusty orange.
Our next bird is —

or • \

E!

THE RUFFED GROUSE*

Tetrao umbellus. — LINNAEUS.
PLATE XIV.

Tetrao umbellus, Linnceus — NorthernZool. — Ruffed Heath-
cock, Edwards. — Bonasia umbellus, Bonaparte. — Ruffed
Grouse, Wilson, Audubon.

THIS curious and beautiful grouse is found from
the 56° parallel to the Gulf of Mexico. It is com-
mon in Pennsylvania and the United States, and
very abundant in the Kentucky and Indiana territory,
and it was found on the banks of the Saskatche-
wan by the Northern expedition, frequenting the
horse-paths and cleared spaces about the forts. The
following account of the manners of this bird, given
by Alexander Wilsons-will be acceptable : —

" The manners of the pheasant are solitary ; they
are seldom found in coveys of more than four or five
together, and more usually in pairs, or singly. They
leave their sequestered haunts in the woods early in
the morning, and seek the path or road, to pick up
gravel, and glean among the droppings of the horses.
In travelling among the mountains that bound the
Susquehanna, I was always able to furnish myself
with an abundant supply of these birds every morn-

150 THE RUFFED GROUSE.

ing without leaving the path. If the weather be
foggy, or lowering, they are sure to be seen in such
situations. They generally move along with great
stateliness, their broad fan-like tail spread out in
the manner exhibited in the drawing. The drum-
ming, as it is usually called, of the pheasant, is an-
other singularity of this species. This is performed
by the male alone. In walking through solitary
woods, frequented by these birds, a stranger is sur-
prised by suddenly hearing a kind of thumping very
similar to that produced by striking two full-blown
ox-bladders together, but much louder ; the strokes
at first are slow and distinct, but gradually increase
in rapidity, till they run into each other, resembling
the rumbling sound of very distant thunder, dying
away gradually on the ear. After a few minutes'
pause, this is again repeated, and, in a calm day,
may be heard nearly half a mile off. This drumming
is most common in spring, and is the call of the cock
to his favourite female. It is produced in the fol-
lowing manner : — The bird, standing on an old pros-
trate log, generally in a retired and sheltered situa-
tion, lowers his wings, erects his expanded tail, con-
tracts his throat, elevates the two tufts of feathers
on the neck, and inflates his whole body, something
in the manner of the turkey cock, strutting and
wheeling about with great stateliness. After a few
manoeuvres of this kind, he begins to strike with his
stiffened wings in short and quick strokes, which be-
come more and more rapid until they run into each

THE RUFFED GROUSE. 151

other, as lias been already described. This is most
common in the morning and evening, though I have
heard them drumming at all hours of the day. By
means of this, the gunner is led to the place of his
retreat ; though, to those unacquainted with the
sound, there is great deception in the supposed dis-
tance, it generally appearing to be much nearer than
it really is."

The Prince of Musignano has formed a new genus
for the reception of this bird, under the title Bonasia.
The principal distinctions are the unplumed tarsi,
contrasted with Tetrao and Lagopus. It is also re-
markable for the tufts of feathers springing from each
side of the neck, twenty-nine or thirty in number,
of a deep rich black. These it can raise at pleasure,
and uncover two bare patches of naked-looking skin,
which during the drumming noise are distended and
as it were blown up. The length of the bird is
about 18 inches, and the whole plumage is a beauti-
ful mixture of brown chestnut and grey, relieved by
the black tufts upon the neck, and a broad band of
the same colour at the extremity of the tail. The
female, according to Audubon, is generally of a
lighter colour than the male ; the ruff, though pre-
sent, being smaller and of a duller black. The nest
is made by the side of a prostrate tree or at the foot
of a low bush, composed of dried leaves and herba-
ceous plants. From five to twelve eggs are laid,
which are of a uniform dull yellowish colour.

In America this bird is termed the pheasant, and

J52 THE PINNATED GROUSE.

is one of the best game of the country, only excelled
by the pinnated grouse, which we shall immediately
notice. In winter and fall many hundreds are
brought to the markets, and in Philadelphia, in
Wilson's time, they sold at from three quarters of a
dollar to a dollar and a quarter per pair.

THE PINNATED GROUSE.

Tetrao cupido. — LINNAEUS.

Attagan Americana, Brisson. — Tetrao Cupido, Bonaparte,
Synop. — Pinnated Heathcock, Stephens.

THIS curious bird resembles the last in having
tufts to the sides of the neck, the form of the fea-
thers narrower and almost 3 inches in length. It
frequents the dry open plains, studded with trees or
interspersed with patches of brushwood. New Jer-
sey, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Indiana territory, and
the plains on the Columbia, are all recorded by Wil-
son as the favourite resorts for this grouse. In the
cultivated and populous districts, it is, however, ra-
pidly decreasing, and though laws were enacted for
the preservation of the heath hens, they flee before
the settlers, and are certain ere long to be extirpat-
ed from grounds where they formerly abounded.
The pinnated grouse is as large as the last. The
general colour of the plumage is yellowish-red, with
bars and crossings of black, in distribution much

THE PINNATED GROUSE. 153

similar to the colours and markings of the European
grey hen. The remarkable parts of its adornment
are the neck tufts, or, as Wilson terms them, supple-
mental wings, composed of about eighteen narrow
feathers, the largest of which are 5 inches long, and
black. Under each of these are two loose, pendu-
lous, and wrinkled skins, extending along the side of
the neck for two-thirds of its length, each of which,
when inflated with air, resembles in bulk, colour, and
surface, a middle-sized orange. The female is con-
siderably less, and wants the neck tufts and naked
skin**

It is during the season of spring that the skins on
the sides of the neck become most conspicuous.
An interesting account of their manners at this season,
is given in a letter from Mr Mitchell, New York, to
Wilson.

" The season for pairing is in March, and the
breeding time is continued through April and
May. Then the male grouse distinguishes him-
self by a peculiar sound. When he utters it, the
parts about the throat are sensibly inflated and
swelled. It may be heard on a still morning for
three or four miles ; some say they have perceived it
as far as five or six. This noise is a sort of ventri-
loquism. It does not strike the ear of a bystander
with much fouce, but impresses him with the idea,
though produced within a few rods of him, of a voice
a mile or two distant. This note is highly charac-
* Alexander Wilson.

154 THE PINNATED GROUSE.

teristic. Though very peculiar, it is termed tooting,
from its resemblance to the blowing of a conch or
horn from a remote quarter. The female makes her
nest on the ground, in recesses very rarely discover-
ed by men. She usually lays from ten to twelve
eggs. Their colour is of a brownish, much resem-
bling those of a guinea hen. When hatched, the
brood is protected by her alone. Surrounded by
her young, the mother bird exceedingly resembles a
domestic hen and chickens. She frequently leads
them to feed in the roads crossing the woods, on
the remains of maize and oats contained in the dung
dropped by the travelling horses. In that employ-
ment they are often surprised by the passengers.
On such occasions the dam utters a cry of alarm.
The little ones immediately scamper to the brush ;
and while they are skulking into places of safety,
their anxious parent beguiles the spectator by droop-
ing and fluttering her wings, limping along the path,
rolling over in the dirt, and other pretences of ina-
bility to walk or fly.

" During the period of mating, and while the
females are occupied in incubation, the males have
a practice of assembling, principally by themselves.
To some select and central spot, where there is
veiy little underwood, they repair from the ad-
joining district. From the exercises performed
there, this is called a scratching place. The time of
meeting is the break of day. As soon as the light
appears, the company assembles from every side,

THE PINNATED GROUSE. 155

sometimes to the number of forty or fifty. When
the dawn is past, the ceremony begins by alow toot-
ing from one of the cocks. This is answered by
another. They then come forth one by one from
the bushes, and strut about with all the pride and
ostentation they can display. Their necks are in-
cur vated ; the feathers on them are erected into a
sort of ruff; the plumes of their tails are expanded
like fans ; they strut about in a style resembling, as
nearly as small may be illustrated by great, the pomp
of the Turkey Cock. They seem to vie with each
other in stateliness ; and, as they pass each other,
frequently casi, looks of insult, and utter notes of de-
fiance. These are the signals for battles. They
engage with wonderful spirit and fierceness. During
these contests they leap a foot or two from the
ground, and utter a cackling, screaming, and dis-
cordant cry.

" They have been found in these places of resort
even earlier than the appearance of light in the East.
This fact has led to the belief that a part of them
assemble over night. The rest join them in the
morning. This leads to the farther belief that they
roost on the ground. And the opinion is confirmed
by the discovery of little rings of dung, apparently
deposited by a flock which had passed the night to-
gether. After the appearance of the sun they dis-
perse.

" These places of exhibition have been often dis-
covered by the hunters ; and a fatal discovery it has

156

THE PINNATED GROUSE.

been for the poor Grouse. Their destroyers con-
struct for themselves lurking holes made of pine
branches, called bough houses, within a few yards of
the parade. Hither they repair with their fowling-
pieces, in the latter part of the night, and wait the
appearance of the birds. Watching the moment
when two are proudly eyeing each other, or engaged
in battle, or when a greater number can be seen in
a range, they pour on them a destructive charge of
shot. This annoyance has been given in so many
places, and to such extent, that the Grouse, after
having been repeatedly disturbed, are afraid to as-
semble. On approaching the spot to which their in-
stinct prompts them, they perch on the neighbour-
ing trees, instead of alighting at the scratching place.
And it remains to be observed, how far the restless
and tormenting spirit of the marksmen may alter
the native habits of the Grouse, and oblige them to
betake themselves to new ways of life.

tf They commonly keep together in coveys, or
packs, as the phrase is, until the pairing season. A
full pack consists, of course, of ten or a dozen. Two
packs have been known to associate. I lately heard
of one whose number amounted to twenty-two.
They are so unapt to be startled, that a hunter, as-
sisted by a dog, has been able to shoot almost a
whole pack, without making any of them take wing.
In like manner, the men lying in concealment near
the scratching places have been known to discharge
several guns before either the report of the explosion,

THE PINNATED GROUSE. 157

or the sight of their wounded and dead fellows,
would rouse them to flight. It has farther been re-
marked, that when a company of sportsmen have
surrounded a pack of Grouse, the birds seldom or
never rise upon their pinions while they are en-
circled ; but each runs along until it passes the per-
son that is nearest it, and then flutters off with the
utmost expedition."

158

THE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE.

Centrocercus phasianellus — SWAINSON.
PLATE XVI.*

Tetrao phasianellus, Buonaparte's Continuation of Wilson.
— Long-Tailed Grouse, Edwards — Sharp-Tailed Grouse,
Pennant. — Centrocercus phasianellus, Northern Zoo-
logy.

THE two following specimens are remarkable for
the elongated form of the tail, and have been placed
by Mr Swainson, as the scantorial forms of the fa-
mily, particularly the next bird, where the feathers
are rigid and sharp pointed, and almost bare at the
tips. The present bird, though previously hinted
at by several authors, appears never to have been
authentically known or described, until after the re-
turn of Say from the Rocky Mountain expedition ;
but the best description is given by Bonaparte in
his continuation, who has also figured the female.

It is common in the southern parts of the Hud-
son Bay settlements. According to the Northern
Zoology, the most northern limit is the Great Slave
Lake, 65° parallel, and its most southern recorded
station, 41° on the Missouri. It abounds on the out-

* The generic name upou the Plate was engraved by mis-
take.

THE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE. 159

skirts of the Saskatchewan plains, and is found
throughout the woody districts of the fur countries,
haunting open glades and low thickets on the borders
of lakes*.

Buonaparte thus details their manners. " The
Sharp-tailed Grouse is remarkably shy, living solitary,
or by pairs during summer, and not associating in
packs till autumn ; remaining thus throughout the
winter. They, of choice, inhabit what are called
the juniper plains, keeping among the small juni-
per bushes, which constitute their food. They are
usually seen on the ground, but when disturbed
fly to the highest trees. Their food in summer is
composed of berries, the various sorts of which they
eagerly seek : in winter they are confined to the
buds and tops of evergreens, or of birch and elder,
but especially poplar, of which they are very fond.
They are more easily approached in autumn than
when they inhabit large forests, as they then keep
alighting on the tops of the tallest poplars, beyond
the reach of an ordinary gun. When disturbed in
that position, they are apt to hide themselves in the
snow ; but Hearne informs us, that the hunter's
chance is not the better for that, for so rapidly do
they make their way beneath the surface, that they
often suddenly take wing several yards from the spot
where they entered, and almost always in a different
direction from that which is expected.

" Like the rest of its kind, the sharp-tailed grouse
» Northern Zoology.

160 THE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE.

breeds on the ground, near some brushwood, making
a loose nest of grass, and lining it with feathers.
Here the female lays from nine to thirteen eggs,
which are white, spotted with blackish. The young
are hatched about the middle of June ; they utter a
piping noise, somewhat like chickens. Attempts
have been repeatedly made to domesticate them, but
have as constantly failed, all the young, though care-
fully nursed by their step-mother, the common hen,
dying one after another, probably for want of suit-
able food. This species has several cries : the cock
has a shrill crowing note, rather feeble ; and both
sexes, when disturbed, or whilst on the wing, repeat
frequently the cry of cade, each. This well known
sound conducts the hunter to their hiding place, and
they are also detected by producing with their small,
lateral, rigid tail-feathers, a curious noise, resembling
that made by a winnowing fan. When in good or-
der, one of these grouse will weigh upwards of two
pounds, being very plump. Their flesh is of a light
brown colour, and very compact, though, at the same
time, exceedingly juicy and well tasted, being far
superior in this respect to the common ruffed, and
approaching in excellence the delicious pinnated
grouse.

The adult male is about sixteen inches in length.
The general colour a mixture of white, different
shades of dark and light chestnut, on a rather deep
and glossy blackish ground. The tail is composed
of eighteen feathers, the centre ones, according to

THE SHARP- TAILED GROUSE. 161

Bonaparte, exceeding the others only by an inch.
Between the sexes there is almost no difference in
plumage ; the female is merely less bright and glossy,
the size is however somewhat less.*

* Bonaparte.

VOL. VIII.

162

THE COCK OF THE PLAINS.

Centrocercus urophasianus — SWA INSON.
PLATE XVII.

Cock of tbe Plains, Lewis and Clark — Tetrao urophasianus,
Bonaparte, Continuation, pi. xxi — Pheasant-tailed grouse,
Wilson, Illust. ofZool. pis. xxvi. and xxvii. — Centrocercua
urophasianus, North. ZooL ii. p. 353.

THIS splendid bird is the largest of the American
grouse ; and, as far as beauty, size, and rarity are
concerned, bears the same rank in the American
Fauna with the wood-grouse cr cock of the wood of
Europe. He is equally sought after by the hunts-
man, and is even now as difficult to procure as that
we have just compared him to. But the form and
habits are quite distinct. In our once native bird the
form is remarkably powerful, the tail rounded and
very ample, the habitation, the most extensive fo-
rests, delighting to perch on the highest trees. The
bird of America inhabits only the uncovered plains,
never perches, and the form of the tail is lengthen-
ed, the feathers narrowing to a point. This acquisi-
tion to the grouse was first noticed in the expedi-
tion of Lewis and Clark, who met with it near the
fountain of the Missouri, in the heart of the Rocky

THE COCK OF THE PLAINS. 163

Mountains, and also on the Columbia River. A
figure was first given of it by Bonaparte, from a spe-
cimen in the possession of Mr Leadbetter. Both
sexes were again figured in Mr Wilson's Illustrations
of Zoology, and an excellent representation of the
male is given in the Northern Zoology.

The total length of the male is thirty-one and a
half inches, that of the female twenty-two. The
colour of the plumage is a beautiful mixture of yel-
lowisn-orown, mottled and varied with deeper tints,
the under parts nearly white, with longitudinal streaks
of brown, and the centre of the belly dotted with
large black patches. On each side of the breast are
two round naked protuberances, placed farther for-
ward than those of T. cupido, or pinnated grouse.
Above each there is a tuft of feathers, having their
shafts considerably elongated, naked, and tipped with
black radii. On the sides of the neck and across the
breast, below the protuberances, the feathers are short,
rigid, and sharp-pointed, but lie over each other with
the same regularity as the scales of a fish. The tail
is eleven inches long, each feather lanceolate, and is
gradually attenuated to a fine point. The female has
the whole of the upper plumage umber- brown and
yellowish-white, barred or mottled in equal propor-
tions. Under part nearly as in the male, but with-
out the projecting stiff feathers.

The description of the manners of this species by
Mr Douglass, is the best account we yet have.
" The flight of these birds is slow, unsteady, and af-
fords but little amusement to the sportsman. From

164 THE COCK OF THE PLAINS.

the disproportionately small, convex, thin -quilled
wing, — so thin, that a vacant space half as broad as
a quill appears between each, — the flight may he said
to be a sort of fluttering, more than any thing else :
the bird giving two or three claps of the wings in
quick succession, at the same time hurriedly rising
then shooting or floating, swinging from side to side,
gradually falling, and thus producing a clapping, whir-
ring sound. When started the voice is cuck, cuck,
cuck, like the common pheasant. They pair in March
and April. Small eminences on the banks of streams
are the places usually selected for celebrating the
weddings, the time generally about sunrise. The
wings of the male are lowered, buzzing on the ground,
the tail spread like a fan, somewhat erect, the bare
yellow oesophagus inflated to a prodigious size, fully
half as large as his body, and, from its soft membra-
nous substance, being well contrasted with the scale-
like feathers below it on the breast, and the flexile
silky feathers on the neck, which on these occasions
stand erect. In this grotesque form he displays, in
the presence of his intended mate, a variety of atti-
tudes. His love-song is a confused grating, but not
offensively disagreeable tone — something that we can
imitate, but have a difficulty of expressing — * Hurr-
Jiurr-hurr-r-r-r-hQoJ ending in a deep hollow tone,
not unlike the sound produced by blowing into a large
reed. Nest on the ground under the shade of Pur-
shia and Artemisia, or near streams, among Pha-
laris arundinacea, carefully constructed of dry grass
and slender twigs. Eggs from thirteen to seventeen,

THE COCK OF THE PLAINS. 105

about the size of a common fowl, of a wood-brown
colour, with irregular chocolate blotches on the thick
end. Period of incubation from twenty-one to twenty-
two days. The young leave the nest a few hours
after they are hatched." " In summer and autumn
months these birds are seen in small troops, and in
winter arid spring in flocks of several hundreds.
Plentiful throughout the barren, arid plains of the
river Columbia ; also in the interior of North Califor-
nia. They do not exist on the banks of the river
Missouri ; nor have they been seen in any jdace east
of the Rocky Mountains."

166

GROUSE-PTARMIGAN.

WE now come to that section of the Grouse to
which the Red Grouse and Ptarmigan belong. They
have been separated from the others under the title
of Lagopus — Grouse-Ptarmigan. They are even of
a more solitary nature than the others, inhabiting the
wildest muirs or most barren alpine ranges. The
principal generic distinction is the entirely clothed
feet and legs, covered with a rather rigid hair than
feathers, and the want of the scaling upon the sides
of the toes ; the hind toe short, and the claws long
and of a particular flat triangularly pointed form in
the more alpine birds, to assist in digging or bur-
rowing under the snow. Five species only are known,
natives of North America and Europe. Great Britain
possesses three, one of which is not known out of
the British Isles. It is the first we shall notice—

PL ATI: xvm.

I.ACOl'l" S STOTH' I'S.

167

THE RED GROUSE.

Lagopus Scoticus. — LEACH.
PLATE XVIII.

Red Grouse, Muirfowl of British Ornithologists.. — Tetrao
Scoticus, Aiictorum.— Lagopus Scoticus, Leach.

THE Muirfovvl, the delight of the sportsman, may
be placed at the head of the sports of the fowler ; it
is to him what the fox is to the hunter, the salmon to
the fisher. The light air of the early morning of a
fine twelfth, and the free and open almost unbound-
ed prospect, exhilarate the spirits ; while the boldness
of the game upon discovery, erectly uttering his cry
of warning to his brood, — his vigorous lengthened
flight, so long as to create doubts of his being again
seen, — carry with them a continuation of excitement,
long after it is satiated with following the skulking
black game, or the more rural amusement of walk-
ing up partridges. But independent of this claim
upon the sportsman, it has another : the red grouse
is exclusively confined to the British Islands, and
has never been found on any part of the Continent,
and it would be much to be regretted if unlimited
persecution or want of preservation should in after
years exterminate this bird, so exclusively national.

168 THE RED GROUSE.

It is well known that on all the more southern muirs,
not a tenth of the former number of birds at present
exist;* and it is only in the more remote districts,
where access and accommodation for sportsmen are
in some degree wanting, that they are to be seen in
any thing like their former numbers.

The red grouse is plentiful still in Scotland and
Ireland, now more sparingly spread over the southern
districts of the former, and upon the wilder muirs of
England. There also the habits of the birds have
considerably changed. By the approaches of culti-
vation to the higher districts, and in insulated patches
of grain even in the middle of the wildest, the grouse
have learned to depend on the labours of the husband-
man for his winter's food, and instead of seeking a
more precarious subsistence during the snow, of ten-
der heath-tops or other mountain plants, they migrate
to the lower grounds and enclosures, and before
the grain is removed, find a plentiful harvest. Hun-
dreds crowd the stooks in the upland corn-fields
where the weather is uncertain, and the grain remains
out even till December snows ; while in the lower
countries they seek what has been left on the stubble
or ploughed fields. It is only in the wildest parts of
the Highlands, the Cairngorum range, Ross, or
Sutherland, where the grouse is an inhabitant through
the year, of the muirs, his native pasture, and where

* In foimer days, the Earl of Strathm ore's gamekeeper,
for a considerable bet, undertook to shoot forty brace of
game upon his Lordship's muirs in Yorkshire. By two
o'clocK he iiad killed forty-three brace.

THE RED GROUSE. 169

fie is also nearly the only enlivener of these wild so-
litudes, by his loud morning and evening call. Du-
ring summer it may be varied by the whistle of the cur-
lew or the wailing of the golden plover, or perhaps in-
terrupted by the sailing flight of some harrier or other
birds of prey ; but in winter, for leagues around,

" Dwells but the gor-cock and the deer."
Unless where much disturbed, the grouse is not
a wild bird, and, unaware of danger, it will allow
a person to approach or walk past, uttering only
its call, as if to make its companions aware that some-
thing is near. In districts where they are much fol-
lowed, they, however, become one of the most wild
and wary of our game, and almost impossible to be
approached except by stratagem. For nearer con-
cealment they are amply provided by the similarity
of the tints of their plumage with the dark brown
moss and heath, and except for the assistance of the
pointer, could not be discovered. Unlike the large
true grouse, the birds of the present group all pair
and continue with their broods until a return of the
warm season. The young in some seasons are dread-
fully ravaged by the tapeworm, almost destroying
them entirely in the districts where it occurs. It is
their most severe natural enemy. The red grouse
pairs very early, if mild, in January, and the female
commences laying at the end of March. The eggs
are deposited in a shallow hollow at the foot of some
tuft of heath, which affords a partial covering and
shelter, and only a few straws or grasses serve to se-
parate them from the ground. Both parents attend.

170 THE RED GROUSE PTARMIGAN.

and boldly defend the nest or young from the ordi-
nary aggressors. One of the most dangerous for the
eggs is the common carrion crow or corby, but this
is often attacked in return and successfully beaten off.
In confinement they very easily tame and become fa-
miliar, and have even bred, though I believe the
young, after being hatched, have very rarely been
reared.

The adult plumage of the grouse which have at-
tained an age beyond a year or two, is a deep rich
sienna brown, the belly almost entirely black. Many
specimens are much marked with white on the under
parts, and some to a greater degree than others ;
and it is a usual thing to remark of these birds,
where the colours are so richly contrasted, u What a
fine old bird he is." The reverse, however, is the
truth, for though white is so often the attribute of
age, it is in this case most prevalent upon the
young males. The females are of a paler tint, and
have the markings larger. During the breeding sea-
son, the feathers of both become much more cut in-
to, as it were, with yellow, and their tips are pale
yellowish white. The grouse varies occasionally to
different shades of cream colour, but we are not aware
of any specimens being perfectly white.

Another grouse, very nearly resembling the moor-
fowl of Britain, is the Willow Grouse, Lagopus salt-
celiy inhabiting the arctic parts of North America, and
extending from thence to the north of Europe. The
plumage of the summer is extremely similar to the red
grouse, but that of the winter is entirely white. The

THE RED GROUSE PTARMIGAN. 171

entire length is about sixteen inches, the weight
about one and a half pounds.

According to Dr Richardson, the Willow Grouse
is partially migratory in the fur countries ; it breeds
in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, and, collecting
in flocks on the approach of winter, retires south-
ward as the severity of the weather increases. On
the shores of Hudson's Bay, it assembles in vast flocks
during winter, 10,000 being sometimes captured in
a single season. Greenland, Iceland, and the valleys
of the Alps, are almost their only habitations in the
old world, frequenting rather wet and brushy situa-
tions. In America, they shelter themselves among
the thickets of willow and dwarf birch. They pass
the night in holes in the snow, and when perceived,
practise a novel artifice in attempting to escape ; they
often terminate their flight by diving precipitately in-
to the loose snow, working their way with considerable
celerity beneath its surface.

The next bird we shall notice is

172

THE COMMON PTARMIGAN

La ff opus mutus — LEACH.
PLATE XIX. PLUMAGE OF WINTER — XX. YOUNG.

Tetrao lagopus, Linnceus — Ptarmigan, Pennant, Latham.
— White Grouse, Bewictfs Birds. — Common Ptarmigan,
Selby^s Illustrations, lix. and Ixix. p. 433.

THIS delicately marked bird in its summer dress,
and of snowy whiteness in winter, appears also to be
a native of both the European and American conti-
nents, though it is certainly more abundant in the
former. It is a species confined to the most alpine
districts, and may be said to be very generally spread
over those of Europe. In Great Britain, its only
habitation now seems to be the high mountain ranges
in the middle of Scotland, increasing in abundance as
the same kind of wild country reaches to the north,
and it also extends to the Hebrides. According to
Pennant, and some contemporary writers, these birds
were once found on the hills of Westmoreland and
Cumberland ; and, I believe, recollections even exist
of a few having been seen upon the high ranges which
appear on the opposite border of Scotland. These have
been for some time extirpated, and unless a few so-

PI. ATE XIX.

^F

THE COMMON PTARMIGAN. 173

litary pairs remain on Skiddaw, or some of its preci-
pitous neighbours, the range of the Grampians will
be its most southern British station. Another bird
ias lately been found in this country, which was be-
fore thought to be an inhabitant of America only,
the Lagopus rupestris or Rock Ptarmigan. From its
close resemblance in plumage, it has been confounded
with the common ptarmigan ; but one or two spe-
cimens have lately been got in the more northern
Highland districts. In both birds the plumage is of
the most unsullied white during winter. In summer
they are mottled with tints of black ; in the first min-
gled with grey and yeilow, in the second with yel-
low alone. The size varies also, the last being about
two inches less than the Common Ptarmigan. The
chief distinctions to be seized upon at first sight, are
the less size, and the black feathers of the back be-
ing cut into upon the edges, with patches of yellow
only, contrasted with the larger size and grey plumage
of the other.

They inhabit the most barren and rocky spots,
often where nothing is to be seen but an intermin-
able series of rugged rocks distributed in boulder
masses, varying in size, from huge lumps to pieces
of a few inches in diameter. Here, during spring
and summer, the pairs and their broods remain
the only inhabitants, and are discovered with the
greatest difficulty, the mixture of the colours of the
plumage forming a tint which harmonizes with that
of the grey rocks around. At this season they are
also tame and familiar, running before the intruder,
and uttering their peculiarly low wild call which is/

174 WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN.

often the means of their discovery. In this way they
will often reach the opposite edge of the rock, and
will, as it were, simultaneously drop off; but the ex-
pectation of finding them on some lower ledge will
be disappointed, for they have perhaps by that time
sought for and reached the opposite side of the moun-
tains, by a low, wheeling flight, as noiseless as the
solitudes by which they are surrounded. The nest
is made under the rocks and stones, and is very diffi-
cult to be found, for the female on perceiving a person
approach, generally leaves it, and is only discovered
by her motion over the rocks, or her low clucking
cry. In winter they descend lower, but seldom seek
the plains.

The only other bird belonging to this interesting
group is an American species, discovered by the ex-
pedition under Captain Franklin. It has the habits
of the rest, and inhabits the Rocky Mountains. It
has been termed by Dr Richardson Lagopus leucurus,
or White-tailed Ptarmigan, and is at once distinguish-
ed from any of the rest by the want of black on the
pure winter plumage, wanting both the black eye-
stripe and black tail, so conspicuous in the others.
The summer dress is intermediate in colour between
that of the rock and common ptarmigan.

PIRATE XXI.

lumonBlack '
T.YIU'UUN THTKJX:.

Male.

THE TOMlTOTrBlACK GROUSE.

Lyrurus tetrix. — SWAINSON.
PLATE XXI. MALE—PLATE XXII. FEMALE.

Tetrao tetrix, Linnceus. — Black Grouse, Black Cock, Male ;
Grey Hen, Female, Pennant, &c. — Black Grouse, Selby,
Illustrations •, Iviii. and Iviii.* p. 423.

THE most proper place to have described this
beautiful bird was after the true American grouse,
the ptarmigan being more naturally succeeded by the
next Plate (PI. XXIII.) As it is, it has been placed
here, and we must refer to the conclusion for the si-
tuation of the different groups.

This species is pretty generally spread over Eu-
rope, being found in France and Germany, while, as
we reach the north, in Russia, Sweden, Norway, &e.
it becomes very abundant. In Britain it occurs in
the three countries, most sparingly, however, in
England, from the rich cultivation and champagne
character of the country. The New Forest, Hamp-
shire, Somerset, and the wild parts of Staffordshire,
can boast of it, but these are nearly all the Eng-
lish stations, until we reach the borders, where it
becomes abundant in the wild districts, which con-
duct to its still more frequent haunts in Scotland,

170 THE COMMON BLACK GROUSE.

The favourite abode of the black grouse is an
alpine sheep country, where there is comparatively
little heath, moist flats or meadows, with a rank
and luxuriant herbage, and where the glades or passes
among the hills are clothed with natural brush of
birch, hazel, willow, and alder, and have a tangled
bottom of deep fern. These afford both an abund-
ant supply of food, and shelter from the cold at night,
and from the rays of the mid-summer's sun.

Like the greater proportion of the true grouse, the
black game is polygamous; and during the months of
January, February, and March, when his adult breed-
ing plumage of glossy steel-blue is put on, he is a noble-
looking and splendid bird. In the warmer sunny days
at the conclusion of winter and commencement of
spring, the males after feeding may be seen arrang-
ed, on some turf fence, rail, or sheep-fold, pluming
their wings, expanding their tails, and practising, as it
were, their murmuring love- call. If the weather now
continues warm, the flocks soon separate, and the
males select some conspicuous spot, from whence
they endeavour to drive all rivals, and commence to
display their arts to allure the female. The places
selected at such seasons are generally elevations ;
the turf enclosure of a former sheep-fold which has
been disused, and is now grown over, or some of
those beautiful spots of fresh and grassy pasture,
which are every where to be seen, and are well known
to the inhabitants of a pastoral district. Here, after
perhaps many battles have been fought and rivals van-

THE COMMON BLACK GROUSE. 177

quished, the noble full-dressed blackcock takes his
stand, commencing at first dawn ; and where the game
is abundant, the hill on every side repeats the murmur
ing call, almost before the utterers can be distin-
guished. They strut around the spot selected, trailing
their wings, inflating the throat and neck, and puffing
up the plumage of those parts, and the now brilliant
wattle above the eyes, raising and expanding their tail,
displaying the beautifully contrasting white under-
covers, and imitating, as it were, the attitudes of a
little turkey-cock. He is soon heard by the females,
who crowd around their lord and master.

This season of admiration does not long continue ;
the females disperse to seek proper situations for de-
positing their eggs, while the males, losing their
feeling for love and fighting at the same time, reas-
semble in small parties, and seek the shelter of the
brush and fern beds to complete a new moult, and
are seldom seen except early in the morning, being
now the very reverse in stupidity to what they were
formerly in vigilance. The sexes continue separate
until the winter, when the old males join with the
young broods, and all resort, morning and evening,
to some favourite feeding grounds, spending the
middle of the day in basking, pluming, or sport-
ing upon some sunny hillside. Upon the females
devolve the whole duties of rearing and protecting
the young. The nest is made on the ground like
that of the other grouse, and when hatched the
young are conveyed to the low rushy hollows, where

VOL. VIII. M

178 THE COMMON BLACK GROUSE.

there is abundance of water, and plenty of food, in
tender seeds of the rushes, and alpine grasses. The
young are seldom full grown before the first of Sep-
tember ; and even at this season, if they have been
undisturbed previously, they will almost suffer them-
selves to be lifted from among the rank herbage be-
fore the pointers. At this time the plumage of the
young is somewhat like that of the female, a lighter
tint of yellowish-brown, mottled and crossed with
bars of black, the males commencing to get the black
feathers of the adult plumage, or to spot, as sports-
men term it ; this is almost always completed by the
beginning of October, but does not gain its richness
of gloss and lustre before the following spring.

During summer the general food is the seeds of
the various grasses, and the berries of the different
alpine plants, such as the cran and crow berries,
blaeberries, &c.*; and in winter the tender shoots of
the fir, catkins of birch and hazel, afford them sup
port in the wilder districts, and often give their pe
culiar flavour to the flesh ; but in all the lower dis-
tricts, where, indeed, this bird is most abundant, the
gleaning of the stubble yields a plentiful meal. Fields
of turnips or rape are also favourite feeding places,
and the leaves yield them a more convenient sup-
ply of food during hard frost, than they could else-
where provide. In some places flocks of hundreds

* Vaccinium oxycoccus, Empetrum nigrum, Vaccinium
myrtillus, Vitis Idaea, and Arbutus Uva-ursi, are all sough':

after.

THE COMMON BLACK GROUSE. 179

assemble at feeding times, for of late years this spe-
cies has increased to an immense extent, and from
the life of the hens being to a certain degree pro-
tected, a sufficient breeding stock is always kept
up. At the season of their thus assembling in flocks,
they are extremely shy and wary.

The plumage of the adult male is, on all the upper
parts, of a rich steel-blue ; on the under parts,, pitch-
black, which duller colour also is seen on the second-
aries and wing-coverts. The secondaries are tipped
with white, forming a bar across the wings conspicu-
ous in flight, and the under-tail coverts are of the same
pure colour. The form of the tail is, however, the
most curious or anomalous structure in this bird, dif-
fering from all the others, (except one, where it is very
slightly indicated,) in being forked, and having the
feathers bending outward. From this circumstance,
it has been formed into a subgenus by Swainson,
under the title Lyrurus, and is made in that gen-
tleman's system to represent the fissirostral form
among the Tetraonidae, bearing analogy in its forked
tail and glossy plumage to the Drongo shrikes of
Africa and India. The female bears the more unob-
trusive colours which run through the sex in the rest
of the group, and has a chaste and beautiful arrange-
ment of brown, black, and greyish-yellow. The fork
of the tail is very slightly seen.

From the Grouse and Ptarmigan we appear to ar-
rive naturally at those birds which fill their situation in

J80 THE SAND GROUSE.

the most barren districts of the world ; and for abode
there, they possess requisites equal to those belong
ing to the inhabitants of the moors or forest. These
hare been named Sand-Grouse, and in scientific lan-
guage Pterocles. They inhabit the parched and arid
deserts of Africa and Arabia, plains of burning sand,
bounded only by the horizon, " where no palm-trees
rise to spot the wilderness," themselves almost the
only living creature, often proving a most welcome
sight, to those who, from necessity or avarice, at-
tempt their dangerous passage. For abode in these
deserts, a more extended locomotive power is neces-
sary, the distances to be passed from the various
watering places and supply of food being very great.
We find the feet small, therefore formed for run-
ning lightly on the burning sand, the bodies more
light and slender than any of the birds we have
been describing, and the wings lengthened, with
the first quills longest ; the tail also is often long,
thus showing an extent of development in the most
important organs of flight, far beyond any of the
others. They are thus enabled to pass over vast
distances, and they sweep over these wastes, with
an easy, noiseless, and extremely rapid flight.

Swainson accounts these birds the tenuirostral
group in this family, and as a departure from the
Gallinae. The Prince of Musignano remarks, that
some species of them lay a small number of eggs,
and that the young remain for a considerable time
in the nest, after being hatched. The colours of

THE SAND GROUSE. 181

these birds are, peculiar shades of brown and ochre-
ous yellow, assimilating with the colour of the
deserts they inhabit.

The first we have to notice, is a European bird
of great rarity. It is

182

PALLAS'S SAND-GROUSE.

Syrrhaptes Pallasii—TEMMiKCK.
PLATE XXIII.

Tetrao paradoxa, Pallas Heteroclite grouse, Latham —

Heteroclite Pallas, Syrrhaptes Pallasii, Temminclc, Pi-
geons et Gallinaces ; PL Coloriees, 95 — Delanoue^ Diction-
naire Classique tfHistoire Naturelle, viii. p. 182.

THE entire length of this curious bird, figured hy
Temminck, was scarcely nine inches, of which the
very long tail feathers occupy three ; but the speci-
mens procured by M. Delanouc from the borders of
China, were above eleven inches, exclusive of the
tail, which was above three. The colours of these
birds were much more brilliant also, and he is of opi-
nion that the subject of our plate was a young male
of small size. The plumage is generally of the brown-
ish yellow tint, the common colour of the whole ;
upon the back and wings of a clearer and more yel-
low tint than on the other parts. Across the lower
part of the breast, the feathers have a black band
at the tip, which forms a bar across ; and upon the
centre of the belly there is another broader band
of brownish-black. The feathers on the back are

PALLAS SAND GROUSE. 183

tipped also with a circle of black, and the secondaries
are terminated with reddish-brown, forming a bar of
that colour across the wings. The wings are long,
the outer feather surpassing the others, and lengthened
to a fine narrow point : in the same way are the
centre feathers of the tail much extended beyond the
others, and terminate in the same kind of narrow se-
taceous plume.

The feet of this bird are very extraordinary. Ac-
cording to Delanoue, who appears to be the only
one who has seen them alive, the toes are so short
as to be scarcely distinguishable, the centre one only
deserving that appellation, and they are covered to
the claws with thick down, these parts being alone
observable without putting aside the covering. The
consequence is a slow, and, as it were, painful man-
ner of walking ; while on the contrary, the flight is
rapid and high. The same traveller found the nest
of the female among some stones collected under a
shrub, containing four eggs of a reddish-white spotted
with brown. The nest was perfectly simple, con-
structed with only a few stalks of grass, and the fe-
male exhibited the utmost solicitude for her precious
deposit. The female differs little from the male, ex-
cept in size, and a little less brilliancy of plumage.

The genus Syrrhaptes was established by Illiger
for the reception of this curious bird, and M. Tem-
minck dedicated the only species yet known to the
celebrated Pallas, its first describer. The next bird
is more typical of this beautiful little group ; it is

184

THE BANDED SAND-GROUSE.

Pterocles arenariue. — TEMMINCK.

PLATE XXIV. FEMALE.— PLATE XXV. MALE.

Tetrao arenarius, Pallas. — Ganga unibande, Pterocles are-
narius, Temminck, Pig. et Gallinaces, and PI. Coloriees,
pis. 52 and 53.

IN this beautiful sand-grouse, we see, if such an
expression may be used, a more perfect form. The
form of the bird is strong but light, the wings long
and ample. The tarsi feathered only in front, and
the feet evidently adapted for running. We have,
however, the same prevailing colour of grey and yel-
lowish-brown, of the peculiar opaque lustre which
prevails among them. The belly of the male is deep
brownish-black, the throat is marked with a spot ot
the same colour, and below the breast there is ano-
ther similarly coloured band, from which Temminck
has derived his trivial name. The female is of the
same general tint. The dark parts of the under
plumage are paler, and the patch on the throat is
wanting, but apparently replaced by another of
grey, while the head, breast, and upper parts are
covered with brownish-black bars and crossings,
somewhat akin to those which distinguish the fe-
males of the true grouse. The tail in this species

THE BANDED SAND-GROUSE. 185

is rounded, but rather lengthened ; it varies in
length from twelve to fourteen inches.

The banded sand-grouse is found on the vast
sandy plains in the south of the Russian empire,
upon the banks of the Volga, but most abundantly
in the north of Africa. Temminck also thinks that
it is entitled to the rank of a European straggler,
one or two instances having occurred of its being
met with in Spain and Germany. Nauman killed
one on the territory of Anhalt, and several others
were said to have been found in the same season ;
Temminck possesses two specimens killed in Spain.
The nest is made among stunted brush, upon the
ground, and four or five eggs only are deposited.
The principal food during the season is the seeds of
an astragalus.

Pterocles exustus, coronatus, Lichtensteinii, are
other delicately marked species, inhabiting the Afri-
can deserts, and having nearly the same manners,
while a beautiful species inhabiting India was made
known by Sonnerat, under the name of Gelinote des
Indes. The Pterocles quadricinctus of Temminck,
is so uamed, from four bands of brown, white, black,
and again white, which encircle the breast of the
adult males.

Another interesting species is the pintailed sand-
grouse, Pterocles setarius of Temminck, a native of
Europe as well as Africa, and the only one which
can be called really European. It is remarkable in
the lengthened form of the centre tail-feathers, and

186 THE BANDED SAND-GROUSE.

particularly so in the strong bill, (which forms a
marked contrast with the others, which are all com-
paratively weak,) and approaches almost to the
strength of that of the grouse, while the nostrils still
remain uncovered. It is found in Spain and some
of the southern provinces, and the north of Africa,
frequenting, perhaps, more the Landes, where there
is a greater proportion of herbage. The nest is
made among loose stones or scanty herbage, and
the eggs are only four or five in number.

The next birds we have to describe are, if pos-
sible, still more curious. In illustration of these,
we have figured

(Tile CrOYvTLt'tl t Y\"!>t. >l)i.x' ('].' Vl'TOM X COCONATr

187

THE CROWNED CRYPTON1X.

Cryptonix coronata — TEMM.
PLATE XXVI.

Le Rouloul de Malacca, Sonnerat, ii. p. 174, pi. 100.—
Cryptonix ou Rouloul couronne, Cryptonix coronatus,
Temminck, PL Coloriies, pis. 350 and 351.

THIS singular bird has been placed by ornitholo-
gists alternately among the pheasants, pigeons, and
partridges. Its nearest alliance is perhaps to the
last, but it differs from them in the form of the bill
and nostrils, and from all the Tetraonidae in the im-
perfection of the hallux, which wants the claw. It
is further remarkable for the large naked space round
the eyes, and for the ample tuft or crown of hairy-
looking plumes which adorn the head. The form of
the bird is compact and robust, the wings short and
rounded, and the tail almost concealed by the fea-
thers of the rump. It inhabits the forests of India,
never visiting the plains, and is most frequently met
with in Malacca, Java, Sumatra, &c.

The length of the male is about ten inches ; the
plumage of the upper parts, except the wings, head,
and neck, is a deep olive-green ; on the breast and
under parts it becomes almost black or steel blue,
and the head and neck are of that colour, with purple

188 THE CROWNED CRYPTONIX.

reflections. The wings are umber brown, varied
with a deeper tint. The crown and hind head are
adorned with a lengthened crest of hair-like feathers,
of an orange-red, but marked in front with a con-
spicuous band of white. Before this, at the base
of the bill there springs a tuft of strong black hair
or bristles, which curve backwards. The space
surrounding the eyes, base of the bill, and legs, are
bright red. The female has the plumage entirely of
the green which covers the upper parts of the male,
except the wings. On the forehead are the black
hairs or bristles, but the red occipital crest is en-
tirely wanting.

Cryptonix niger, entirely black, is another species
belonging to this form, the female is brown. There
appears also to be one or two other birds which will
rank with these, which have not yet been properly
distinguished. Our next birds compose the genus
Ortygis of Illiger, and the form will be seen in

PLATS JCXV1JL.

OKTYGTS MEJFPRENII

Tl:.-V.'l.i:.- spotted Orty-^s-

r )

189

THE WHITE-SPOTTED ORTYGIS.

Ortygis Meiffrenii TEMMINCK.

PLATE XXVII.

White-spotted Turnix, Swainson, Zool. Illust. — Turnix
MeifFeinii, Temminck, pi. 50.

THESE curious diminutive birds are found in Af-
rica, India, and the warmer parts of New Holland.
Few of them are so large as the common quail, and
several do not attain half the size. The colours are
somewhat similar ; but in the form of the body —
the length of uncovered leg above the joint, form of
the foot in wanting entirely the hallux — reminds us
of the true bustards. They inhabit the barren Landes,
and the confines of the deserts, seldom taking
wing except when pressed, and running with great
swiftness. They are polygamous, and it is one of
these birds which are so much used by the Malays,
Javanese, and Chinese, in quail-fighting, which is
carried to a much greater excess than the same
practices in the cock-pit. The species represented
on the accompanying plate, exhibits the peculiarity
of form and length of legs. The bird itself is
scarcely larger than the figure, the upper parts
delicately shaded with yellowish white, the lower
parts nearly pure white. By Mr. Swainson it had

190 WHITE-SPOTTED ORTYGIS.

been, (subsequently to Temminck, we think),
named nivosus, from the white spots which deli-
cately mark the breast. It is a native of Africa.
Our next bird is of stronger proportions. It is

191

BLACK-NECKED ORTYGIS.

Ortygis nigricollis.
PLATE XXVIII.

Turnix cagnan, Hemipodius nigricollis, Temminck, Pigeons
et Gallinaces, iii. p. 619.

THIS is a stronger species than the last, coming
nearer to the true quails, being rather more than six
inches in length. The head and neck are deep black,
mingled above with white and brown, but upon the
throat generally of a solid black. The upper plu-
mage is varied with irregular markings of yellowish
brown and black, and the breast is largely barred
with the latter colour upon a pale yellowish-brown
ground. It inhabits the island of Madagascar, and
most probably also the continent of Africa.

The next birds we have to notice are the last in
this important and interesting family, but although
they have been placed last, we are by no means cer-
tain of their situation. The Tinamous, forming the
genus Crypturus of Illiger, are all natives of the
New World, particularly abounding in the Brazilian
and tropical forests, whose open glades they frequent
during the day, and at night repose on the large

192 GENUS CRIPTURUS.

branches of the trees, seeking safety from the nu-
merous carnivorous animals which hunt their prey
during night, and delight in the varied game of these
wilds. During day they skulk about the long her-
bage, and even when assailed by men, allow them-
selves to be killed with sticks, rather than exert
their little powers of flight. The wings and tail are
both short and without power, the latter almost
wanting ; but their feet are more fitted for running
in the marshy grounds, and the disincumbrance of
the tail enables them to thread an easy passage
through a tangled herbage. The next Plate re-
presents

PLATE 29.

ruvi'Trurs K ITKNCK .\ >

•:;(;.u

193

THE GUAZTJ.

Crypturus rufescens.

PLATE XXIX.

Tinamou isabelle, Tinamus rufescens, Temminck, Planches
Coloriees, pi. 412.

THIS is a large bird, measuring in length above
15 inches. It is a native of Paraguay and Brazil,
and is said to frequent the plains of deep grassy her-
bage, and to come forth ii) moonlight and twilight to
the fields of newly sown grain. During day it is
difficult to raise, and will allow itself almost to be
trodden on. They are hunted with dogs, and some-
what esteemed for their flesh. The nest is formed
among the long grass, and four or five eggs are laid,
according to Temminck, of a brilliant violet colour,

he form nearly round.

On the crown are rows of black spots upon the
tips of the feathers ; the ground colour, with that ot
the neck and breast, is a pale and delicate yellowish
orange. The whole of the other parts, except the
quills and secondaries, are of a delicate wood-brown,

or, as Temminck expresses it, " couleur de cafe a

VOL. VIII. N

194 THE GUAZU.

lait ;" palest beneath, and marked above with large
black crescent- formed patches. The quills and se-
condaries are bright yellowish-orange.

The other species of the genus we have repre-
sented is

195

Crypturus tataupa.
PLATE XXX.

Tinaraou tataupa, Tinamus tataupa, Temminck, Planches
Coloriees, pi. 415.

THIS bird is also a native of Paraguay, and has
nearly the maaners with the last, a little more fami-
liarity is displayed, and it approaches commonly
nearer to cultivation, whence it has received the pro-
vincial name of Tataupa. It hreeds in similar places
to the last, and the eggs are of a deep brilliant blue.
Violet and blue are remarkable colours in the eggs
of the gallinaceous birds, the former very rare among
any, and the tinamous seem to lead off in this respect
as well as many other peculiarities.

The Tataupa is a small species, being only about
nine inches in length. The head, neck, breast, and
belly are of a greyish leaden colour; the throat pure
white, the back and wing-coverts brownish-black,
the feathers on the thighs and rump are dull black,
bordered with a narrrow band of white. The bill is
brilliant red, and the legs are of a purplish-red, both
contrasting well with the otherwise dull and chaste
plumage.

196

THE TATA UFA.

Fourteen or fifteen species of these curious birds
are described, but their history is not well known,
and there is considerable confusion among their
names, from the works of Spix affixing new appella-
tions to almost all that were known. One of the
most curious is the Tinamus nanus of Temminck,
of very diminutive size, being about a third less than
the common quail. It is very interesting from its
form, which approaches in many respects to that of
Ortygis, and is thought by Temminck to stand at
the extremity of the present genus, and lead to that
we have just mentioned. The hallux is simply a
nail, and there is an extraordinary development in
the feathers of the rump. It will stand as the type
of a subgenus.

197

We now give a short arrangement of the genera
which have been already proposed by different or-
nithologists. Those in capitals are what Mr Swain-
son considers the five leading forms, those in com-
mon letters are the subgenera, of which one or two
more will be necessary in both Perdix and Cryp-
turus.

The Rasores, or third order of birds, contains the
families Pavonidae, Tetraonidae, Cracidae, Struthio-
nidae, Columbidae.

The family of Tetraonidae contains the genera arid
subgenera

PERDIX.

Francolinus.

Ortyx.

Coturnix.
TETRAO.

Lyrurus.

Centrocercus.

Lagopus.

Syrrhaptes.

Pterocles.

Attagis ?
CRYPTONIX.
ORTYGIS.
CRYPTURUS.

^ !