AVES 



343 



Other members of this order are the American woodcock^ with its 

 long sensitive, probe-like beak, used in procuring earthworms; the 

 Wilson's snipe, the sandpipers, and the curlews. 



Order 10. Gallinae. — This order includes two families of un- 

 familiar birds, the brush turkeys {Megapodes) of Australia and New 

 Guinea and the curassows and guans ( Cracidoe) of tropical America. 



Fig. 189. //, snipe. 5, spotted sandpiper. C, bob white. D, spruce grouse. (From 

 L. A. Fuertes. Courtesv of Slingerland-Comstock Publishing Co.) 



The Gallinaceous birds include the common fowl and game birds 

 such as wild turkeys, grouse, partridges, bob-whites, and ptarmigans. 

 The most highly specialized types are characterized by brilliant 

 plumage, being the males of the golden and Lady Amherst pheasants, 

 native to South China and Eastern Thibet. 



The common bob-white or quail \s> an extremely important weed- 

 seed and insect destroying bird. The rufed grouse are strong flyers 

 and their flesh is extremely palatable. Ruffed grouse are susceptible 

 to the disease tularemia. Wild turkeys are still found in the East, 



