Mr. Elmer, of Farnham, the famous game painter, was employed to take an exact copy of this curious bird.
N.B.—It ought to be mentioned, that some good judges have imagined this bird to have been a stray grouse or blackcock; it is however to be observed, that Mr. W. remarks, that its legs and feet were naked, whereas those of the grouse are feathered to the toes.—White.
Mr. Latham observes that "pea-hens, after they have done laying, sometimes assume the plumage of the male bird," and has given a figure of the male-feathered pea-hen now to be seen in the Leverian Museum; and M. Salerne remarks, that "the hen pheasant, when she has done laying and sitting, will get the plumage of the male." May not this hybrid pheasant (as Mr. White calls it) be a bird of this kind? that is, an old hen pheasant which had just begun to assume the plumage of the cock.—Marwick.
LAND-RAIL.
A man brought me a land-rail or daker-hen, a bird so rare in this district, that we seldom see more than one or two in a season, and those only in autumn.[1] This is deemed a bird of passage by all the writers; yet from its formation, seems to be poorly qualified for migration; for its wings are short, and placed so forward, and out of the centre of gravity, that it flies in a very heavy and embarrassed manner, with its legs hanging down; and can hardly be sprung a second time, as it runs very fast, and seems to depend more on the swiftness of its feet than on its flying.
When we came to draw it, we found the entrails so soft and tender in appearance, they might have been dressed like the ropes of a wood-cock. The craw or crop was small and lank, containing a mucus; the gizzard thick and strong, and filled with small shell
- ↑ The land-rail is common in Shropshire, and I have found three or four nests in a single hayfield. One of these birds was once brought in, in a load of hay, and when discovered feigned to be dead. It was laid aside, and recovered so quickly, that it made good its escape with remarkable speed
