v 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 Polyplectron and Tetrastes, 
and generally consists of two or more syllables; but in view 
of subsequent details, it is sufficient 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 tridentata) 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 Lophophorus, Catreus, Crossoptilon, Gennaeus, 
Pavo, and so forth, dig for roots with the bill. American Grouse, 
atter eating Aalmia shoots, are actually poisonous. 
Pugnacious habits are prevalent in the Family, and natu- 
rally attain their 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- 
