574 



SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — GALLIN2E—ALECT0R0P0DES. 



eggs are very nuiuerous, usually laid on the ground, in a rude nest, or none. The suborder is 

 cosmopolitan ; but most of its groups have a special geographical distribution. Its great eco- 

 nomic importance is perceived in all forms of domestic poultry, and principal game-birds of 

 various countries; and it is unsurpassed in beauty — some of these birds offer the most 

 gorgeous coloring of the class. 



Genetically, the Fowls 

 are nearer than most 

 birds to a generalized, 

 old-fashioned type. They 

 have relations in the cu- 

 riously ostrich -like Tina- 

 mous of South America 

 (Tinamidce or Crypturi), 

 the Hoatziu (Opisthoco- 

 mus)j and other antique 

 relicts. Notice a quarter- 

 grown Turkey with this 

 idea in mind, and you will 

 hardly fail to see that 

 it looks like an ostrich 

 in miniature. Leading 

 types of existing Alec- 

 toropod Gallinae are the 

 Quail, the Grouse, the 

 Guinea-fowl, the Tur- 

 key, and the domestic 

 Cock. The two former 

 are very close to each 

 other, and hardly sepa- 

 rable as families; the 

 three latter are nearer 

 one another, and often 

 placed together in a fam- 

 ily. The families Tet- 

 raonidce, Grouse, Quail, 

 and Partridges; and Me- 

 leagrididce, Turkeys, are 

 indigenous to N. Am., 

 and fully treated beyond. 

 A word on the others will 

 not be misplaced here. 



The Guinea-fowL Nu- 

 mididce, of which a spe- 

 cies, Numida meleagris, 

 Fig. 394. — English Pheasant, Phasianus colchvcus (From Dixon ) .^ commonly seen in do- 



mestication, are an African and Madagascau type. While the foregoing families are strongly 

 specialized, this one, like the turkey family, more closely approaches the true fowl, and 

 both may be only subfamilies of Phasianidce. The bones of the pinion have a certain 

 peculiarity ; the frontal generally develops a protuberance ; there are wattles, but no spurs ; the 

 tail is very short ; the "head naked. There are six or eight species of Numida, in some of 



