Our navigation bar is loading . . . . . .


Advertise on JCSM - Hear JCSM's Weekly Devotions via Podcast/RSS Feed! - Skip These Ads

You can advertise your site right here!Click here to learn more!

 10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings by Jason Gastrich, Ph.D.

 JCSM's Top 1000 Christian Sites - Free Traffic Sharing Service! Join the Online Christ-Centered Ministries!

-
Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

Click here and add this page to your favorites!

Return to the JCSM Study Center!

Encyclopedia Britannica



TOURACOU

This article appears in Volume V27, Page 102 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: TOO-TUM
TOURACOU , the name, evidently already in use, under which in 1743 G. Edwards figured a pretty African bird,' and presumably that applied to it in
Guinea
 , whence it had been brought alive. It is the Cuculus persa of Linnaeus, and Turacus
(After Schlegel.)
White-Crested Touracou (Turacus albicristatus).
or Corythaix persa of later authors. Cuvier in 1799 or 1800 Latinized its native name (adopted in the meanwhile by both French and German writers) as above, for which barbarous term J. K. W. Illiger, in 1811, substituted a more classical word. In 1788 Isert described and figured (Beobacht. Gesellsch. naturf. Freunde, 16-zo, pl. I) a bird, also from
Guinea
 , which he called Musophaga violacea. Its affinity to the
original
  Touracou was soon recognized, and both forms have been joined by modern systematists in the family Musophagidae, commonly Englished Plantain-eaters or Touracous.
To take first the Plantain-eaters proper, or the genus Musophaga, of which only two species are known. One, about the size of a
crow
 , is comparatively common in museums, and has the horny base of its yellow bill prolonged backwards over the forehead in a kind of shield. The top of the head and the primaries, except their outer edge and tip, are deep crimson; a white streak extends behind the eye; and the rest of the plumage is glossy purple. The second species, M. rossae, which is rare, chiefly differs by wanting the white eye-streak. Then of the Touracousthe species origin-ally described is about the size of a jay, and has the head, crest (which is vertically compressed and tipped with red), neck and breast of grass-green, varied by two white streaksone, from the gape to the upper part of the crimson orbit, separated by a black patch from the other, which runs beneath and behind the eye. The wing-coverts, lower part of the back, and tail are of steel-purple, the primaries deep crimson, edged and tipped with bluish black. Over a dozen other congeneric species, more or less resembling this, have been described, and all inhabit some
district
  of Africa. One, found in the Cape Colony and
Natal
 , where it is known as the " Lory " (cf. xv. 7, note I), though figured by Daubenton and others, was first differentiated in 1841 by Strickland (Ann. Nat. History, vii. 33) as Turacus albicristatusits crest having a conspicuous white border, while the steel-purple of T. persa is replaced by a rich and glossy bluish green of no less beauty. In nearly all the species of this genus the nostrils are almost completely hidden by the frontal feathers; but there are two others in which, though closely allied, this is not the case, and some systematists would place them in a separate genus Gallirex; while another species, the giant of the family, has been moved into a third genus as Corythaeola cristata. This differs from any of the foregoing by the absence of the crimson coloration of the primaries, and seems to lead to another group, Schizorrhis, in which the plumage is of a still plainer type, and, moreover, the nostrils here are not only exposed but in the form of a slit, instead of being oval as in all the
' Apparently the first ornithologist to make the bird known was Albin, who figured it in 1738 from the life, yet badly, as " The Crown-bird of
Mexico
 ." He had doubtless been misinformed as to its proper country; but Touracous were called " Crown-birds " by the Europeans in West Africa, as witness Bosman's Description of the Coast of Guinea (2nd ed., 1721), p. 251, and W.
Smith
 's Voyage to Guinea (1715), p. 149, though the name was also given to the crowned cranes, Balearica.rest. This genus contains about half-a-dozen species, one of which, S. concolor, is the Grey Touracou of the colonists in
Natal
 , and is of an almost uniform slaty brown. A good deal has been written about these birds, which form the subject of a beautiful monograph De Toerako's afgebeld en beschrevenby Schlegel and Westerman, brought out at Amsterdam in 186o; while further information is contained in an elaborate essay by Schalow (Journ. f. ornithologie, 1886, pp. I-77). Still, much remains to be made known as to their distribution throughout Africa and their habits. They seem to be all fruit-eaters, and to frequent the highest trees, seldom coming to the ground. Very little can be confidently asserted as to their nidification, but at least one species of Schizorrhis is said to make a rough nest and therein lay three eggs of a
pale
  blue colour. An extraordinary peculiarity attends the crimson coloration which adorns the primaries of so many of the Musophagidae. So long ago as 1818, Jules Verreaux observed (Prot. Zool. Society, 1871, p. 40) that in the case of T. albicristatus this beautiful hue vanishes on exposure to heavy rain and reappears only after some interval of time and when the feathers are dry.'
The Musophagidae form a distinct family, of which the Cuculidae are the nearest allies, the two being associated to Corm the Cuculine as compared with the Psittacine division of Cuculiform birds (see BIRD and PARROT). T. C. Eyton pointed out (Ann. Nat. History, 3rd
series
 , vol. ii. p. 458) a feature possessed in common by the latter and the Musophagidae, in the " process attached to the anterior edge of the ischium," which he likened to the so-called " marsupial " bones of Didelphian mammals. J. T. Reinhardt has also noticed (Vidensk. meddels. naturhist. forening, 1871, pp. 326-341) another Cuculine character offered by the os uncinatum affixed to the lower side of the ethmoid in the Plantain-eaters and Touracous; but too much dependence must not be placed on that, since a similar structure is presented by the frigate-bird (q.v.) and the petrels (q.v.). A corresponding process seems also to be found in Trogon (q.v.). The bill of nearly all the species of Musophagidae is curiously serrated or denticulated along the margin and the feet have the outer toe reversible, but usually directed backwards. No member of the family is found outside of the continental portion of the Ethiopian region. (A. N.)


End of Article: TOURACOU


If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/TOO_TUM/TOURACOU.html">
TOURACOU
</a>
(Previous)
TOUP, JONATHAN [JOANNES TouPrus] (1713-1785) 		(Next)
TOURAINE

 


 

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

The JCSM Study CenterAmerica's Christian FoundationSkeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and ExplainedNKJV Web Hosting and Services
JCSM's Sermons, Debates and the Bible on MP3The Online Christ-Centered MinistriesDo You Have A Web Site?  Your Ad Could Be Here!Seminary Notes and PapersThe Picturesque Photo Albums


Jesus Christ Saves Ministries, P.O. Box 70696, Pasadena, CA 91117

JCSM is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization. Copyright © 1997-present.


Kingdom Debt Solutions - Be Debt Free! Sport Logos - Quality Athletic Equipment The JCSM Study Center Your Ad Could Be Here! Launch A Successful Internet Organization or Business! Learn Guitar, Bass, or Piano in San Diego county!

You can advertise your site right here!

Free & Cheap Cell Phones  |  Cheap Long Distance Phone Service Carriers  |  Talk America Local Phone Service  |  Ztel & MCI - Unlimited Long Distance
Compare Cell Phone Plans & Companies  |  International Calling Cards & Prepaid Phone Cards  |  Voice Over IP Broadband Internet Phone Service  |  Wireless Phone Plans & Cheap Cell Phones

Dr. Jason Gastrich

Jason Gastrich, Ph.D.

 

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries is directed by Dr. Jason Gastrich.  It was founded in 1997 and it exists to bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ.  JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, discussion boards, weekly html and mp3 devotionals, free email accounts, and much more.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA  92169
1-877-850-3878 or Email

JCSM is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization. Copyright © 1997-2008.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Online First Aid and CPR Certification  .  The Online Christ Centered Ministries  .  The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained  .  The Inerrancy Discussion Board  .  Free Email Accounts  .  Home Equity Loans  .  JasonGastrich.com  .  The Missions, Apologetics, and Creation Bible Conference  .  Young Earth Creation Science  .  San Diego Music Lessons  .  10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings  .  Gastrich.net  .  Maximizing the Internet: 12 Keys to Success  .  Louisiana Baptist University  .  NKJV Web Hosting and Services  .  Michael Newdow  .  San Diego Soccer Training  . Christian Guitar Lessons  .  Jesus Christ Saves Ministries  .  Eternal Security