104 RASORES. SCRAPERS. 



classification not obviously inconsistent. The first family, 

 Patoninw^ is composed of the genera Meleagris, Pavo, and 

 Diplectron ; the second, Gallinw^ of Argus, Phasianus, Gallus, 

 Lophophorus, and Tragopan ; the third, Cracinw^ of Crax, 

 Ourax, and Penelope ; the fourth, Perdicinw, of Numida, Cryp- 

 tonyx, Tetrao, Perdix, Coturnix, Ortyx, and Pterocles. Be- 

 sides these genera, several other groups have been referred to 

 this order. Of the families mentioned above, only one, that of 

 the Perdicinse, contains birds naturally indigenous in Britain ; 

 although the Common and Ring-necked Pheasants, now gene- 

 rally distributed over the country in a semi-domestic or natu- 

 ralized state, belong to the second family. 



It is extremely difficult to elaborate characters equally ap- 

 plicable to all the species of this order. They are generally 

 heavy birds, having the body full, the neck of moderate length, 

 the head rather small and oblong, the feet stout, short, or of 

 moderate length, the toes four, rather short, the hind one very 

 short, or sometimes wanting ; the claws slightly arched, more 

 or less flattened and obtuse. The bill is for the most part short, 

 with the upper mandible arched, transversely concave, its edges 

 overlapping, and the tip blunt. It will serve to elucidate the 

 characters of the digestive organs to refer to Plate VI, which 

 represents those of the Brown Ptarmigan, Lagopus Scoticus, 

 The bill. Fig. 1, «, is short, broad, triangular, and acute. 

 The fauces are of moderate width, or rather narrow. The 

 oesophagus, 6, c, d, e, is narrow, but about the middle of the 

 neck is expanded into a large subglobular sac or crop, c, d, of 

 which the upper walls are reflected over the trachea and oeso- 

 phagus, and terminates below in an oblong or bulbiform pro- 

 ventriculus. Fig. 8, b, completely lined with rather large ovato- 

 oblong glandules. The stomach, /, is a powerful gizzard, of 

 which the outer coat is composed of two pairs of very thick 

 muscles, inserted into two tendinous centres ; the middle coat 

 thick and tough ; the inner or cuticular coat, forming two thick, 

 elliptical, transversely rugous plates, opposite the muscles, but 

 in the other parts thinner. The form and structure of the 

 stomach will be better understood on referring to Figs. 3. and 

 4, the former representing its exterior, the latter its interior. 



