PHASIANIDAE 203 



below. Few Galline birds, besides the American Partridges, 

 breed twice in a season. The male has been observed to incubate 

 in Ortyx, and in this genus and Odontophorus domed nests are 

 on record, while many species lay their eggs in depressions 

 under over-arching tufts of heather or grass. Incubation lasts 

 from eighteen to twenty-eight days, the young running almost 

 from the shell. The note is shrill in Guinea-fowls, Partridges, 

 and Quails, somewhat whistling in Polyplcctron and Tetrastes, 

 and generally consists of two or more syllables; but in view 

 of subsequent details, it is sufticient to particularize the " cok- 

 cok-cok " of the Grouse, the crow of the Pheasant and the Cock, 

 the cluck and cackle of the Hen, the scream of the Peacock, and 

 the gobble of the Turkey. The food is chiefly vegetable, and 

 includes shoots, buds, leaves, grass, bulbs, seeds, berries and other 

 fruits, with a certain amount of grit ; but worms, molluscs, ants 

 and their cocoons, insects and their larvae, swell the list. Juniper 

 twigs or berries are supposed to give a flavour to the Hazel 

 Grouse, pine tips to the Capercaillie, whereas the " Sage-brush " of 

 America (^Artemisia tridcntata) bestows its name upon the Sage- 

 cock (Centrocercus), and makes its flesh bitter and unpleasant. 

 The Pheasant scratches in the ground for provender, as do Turkeys 

 and Fowls, while Lcphoj^horus, Catreiis, Crossoj^tilon, Gennaetts, 

 Pavo, and so forth, dig for roots with the bill. American Grouse, 

 after eating Kalmia shoots, are actually poisonous. 



Pugnacious habits are prevalent in the Family, and natu- 

 rally attain tlieir height in the courting season ; but chief of 

 all in this connection is the genus Gallus, which will fight at any 

 time of year, being highly valued by the boatmen of Burma for 

 the sport it provides. These wanderers commonly keep a cock 

 tied by the leg in their vessels, or possess a decoy-bird to attract its 

 wild relatives. Game-birds are easily naturalized or domesticated 

 owing to their terrestrial habits ; they hybridize readily even in 

 a state of nature, the offspring being often fertile ; such species, 

 moreover, as the Pheasant, Partridge, and Red-legged Partridge 

 will frequently use a nest in common. Occasionally the female 

 assumes a plumage like that of the male ; for example, in the 

 Pheasant, where such individuals are called " Mules," and are 

 stated to be barren. Further questions of great interest are the 

 moult, the Grouse disease, the shedding of the claws in the 

 Ptarmigan, and of the horny fringes of the toes in the Tetrao- 



