Observations on certain parts of the animal oeconomy : inclusive of several papers from the Philosophical transactions, etc. / by John Hunter ... ; with notes by Richard Owen.
- John Hunter
- Date:
- 1840
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Observations on certain parts of the animal oeconomy : inclusive of several papers from the Philosophical transactions, etc. / by John Hunter ... ; with notes by Richard Owen. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
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![perfect as in any hen pheasant that is not in the least prepared for laving erras, and having both the ovary and oviduct. As the observations hitherto made have been principally upon birds found wild, little of their history can be known ; but from what took place in a hen pheasant, in the possession of a friend of Sir Joseph Banks, it appears probable that this change of cha- racter takes place at an advanced period of the animal's life, and does not grow up with it from the beginning. This lady, who had for some time bred pheasants, and paid particular attention to them, observed that one of the hens, after having produced several broods, moulted, when the succeeding feathers were those of a cock, and that this animal was never afterwards impregnated. Hence it is most probable that all the hen pheasants found wild, having the feathers of a cock, were formerly perfect hens, but have been changed by age, or perhaps by certain constitutional cir- cumstances.* Having bought some pheasants from a dealer in birds, among which were several hens, I perceived, the year after, that one of the hens did not lay, and that she began to change her feathers. The year following she had nearly the plumage of the cock, but less brilliant, especially on the head ; and it is more than probable that this was an old hen, nearly under circumstances similar to to those before described. Lady Tynte had a favourite pied pea-hen which had produced chickens eight several times ; having moulted when about eleven years old, the lady and family were astonished by her displaying the feathers peculiar to the other sex, and appeared like a pied peacock. In this process the tail, which became like that of the cock, first made its appearance after moulting ; and in the following year, having moulted again, produced similar feathers. In the third year she did the same, and, in addition, had spurs resembling those of a cock. She never bred after this change in her plumage, and died in the following winter during the hard frost in the year 1775-6. This bird is now preserved in the museum of the late Sir Ashton Lever.f From what has been related of these three birds, we may con- * [The cause of the change in the plumage which Mr. Hunter here alludes to, has been proved by subsequent dissections to be effective and not uncommon. See the paper entitled 'On the change in the Plumage of some Hen-Pheasants,' by Wm. Yarrell, Esq., Phil. Trans. 1827, in which the author states, that certain constitutional circumstances producing this change may, and do occur, at any period during the life of the fowl, and that they can be produced by artificial means.] \ It might be supposed that this bird was really a cock which had been sub- stituted for the hen ; but the following facts put this matter beyond a doubt. First, there was no other pied pea-fowl in the country. Secondly, the hen had nobs on her toes, which were the same after her change. Thirdly, she was as small after the change as before, therefore too small for a cock. Fourthly, she was a favourite bird, and was generally fed by the lady, and used to come for her food, which she still continued to do after the change in the feathers.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21131545_0050.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
