and hooked at the end ; the gape ftretches beyond the eyes; the
colour of i,t a very pale blue, except the end of the upper mandible,
which is yellowilh, and a red fpot on the bend of it'; the
end of the lower blackilh : irides white t the general colour o f
the plumage is cinereous, and foft to the touch; the belly and:
thighs whitifh: the head large, andfeems as it were covered witk
a black hood, or cowl: the wings are very Ihort, and of a yellowilh
alh-colour : the tail feathers curled, ftand up on the rump, and
incline to yellow, like the wings : the legs have four toes, three
before and one behind; are very flout, Ihort, and yellowilh : claws,
black.
This is the account from Edwards, and a painting of it is now
in the Britijh Mufeum.
Herbert, in his Travels, feems to give an account as having
feen it, though his figure is a bad one. He fays, that it ” feldom
“ weighs lefs than fifty pounds. The bill hooked, and bent down-
« wards'; the thrill or breathing-places in the midfl ; from which
“ part to the end the colour is of a light green, mixed with pale
“ yellow : eyes round and bright: has fine down inflead of fea-
“ thers : the train (like to a China-beard) is no more than three-
« or four Ihort feathers : the head varioully dreft, one half being
“ hooded with down of a dark colour, the other half naked, and
“ of a white hue, as if lawn were drawn over i t : the legs thick
“ and black ; and the talons great.” We likewife learn from him,
that tc the pace is flow, and the body round and fat; by fome
“ eaten as meat, but is more pleafurable to look than feed upon
<c andher ftomach fo fiery that it can eafily digefl Hones; in that
“ and lhape not a little refembling the OJlrich
This awkward figure inhabits the ifiands of Mauritius (or
o i the
D O D CU J
the IJle of France), and that of Bourbon *, in the Indian
ocean.
Le Solitaire, Buf. Oif. i. p. 485r-leguat. Voy. i. p. 98.— pi. in d°. 2.
SOLITARY D.
r p H I S is a large bird, and the male is faid to weigh fometimes
"*■ forty-five pounds : it has fome relation to the Turkey, as the
bill and legs are like that bird’s ; but the bill is more bent, and
it Hands higher on the legs. The neck is of a proportionable
length, and the eye black and lively: the head is not creHed, and
the general colour of the plumage is grey and brown mixed :
it has fcarce any tail ; and the bafiard wing fwells out into a
round knob : the wings are too Ihort for flight, and the hind
parts are rounded like a Horfe’s rump, being cloathed with feaD
e s c r i p t io n *
thers, which may be termed coverts.
The females are covered with fometimes brown and fometimes
light yellow feathers, and appear very beautiful. This fex has
alfo a kind of widow’s peak above the bill; and the feathers on
each fide of the breafl enlarge into two white tufts, fomewhat
refembling the bofom of a woman : the feathers of the thighs are
rounded at the end, like Ihells; and, according to Leguai, the
F ema le *
bird has all together a noble and elegant gait.
This is an inhabitant of the Ijle of Rodrigue, where it is not
uncommon; but not met with in flocks, fcarcely more than two
being found together. It makes the neH in bye places, of leaves
* Thefe cannot be the only parts where they are found, and muft have been
imported into them from others, fince it is faid* that the Portuguefe, who firffc
difcovered them, found neither land bird nor quadruped in either* See Hijl. det
Oif. vol* v. p. 2801
P la c e and
M anners *
B 2 of