68 



Subclass ni. CARINAT^ *. 



Order VI. CRYPTURIFORMES f. 



Suborder iv. Tinami. (Neotropical.) 

 Order VII. GALLIFORMES f. 



Suborder v. Megapodii §. (Australasian aud Indo-Malayan.) 

 Suborder vi. Graces ||. (Neotropical.) 

 Suborder vii. Phasiani ^. 



Fam. 1. Phasianid^. (Palsearctic and Indian.) 



2. TETEAONiDiE. (Patearctic and Nearctic.) 



3. Peedicid^. (Cosmopolitan.) 



4. NusnDiD^, (Ethiopian.) 



5. Meleagrid^. (Nearctic aud Neotropical.) 



* EuripMdurce, Gill et auct. recent., a name drawing attention to the shape of the 

 tail in contrast to that of Archceopteryx. 



t Cf. Parker, Tr. Z. S. v. pt. 3, pp. 149-241. The order containing the Tinamous 

 consists of a number of Partridge-like birds peculiar to the Neotropical Region. 

 They are Game-birds with a Struthionine palate and pelvis, but have a well-developed 

 keel to the sternum, which " has a narrow median xiphoid process to support the 

 keel, aud on each side a still narrower xiphoid process, the three processes occupying 

 four-fifths of its entire length.'' The cartilage which connects the ihum with the 

 ischium behind the acetabulum is not ossified. The vomer coalesces with the maxillo- 

 palatines in front, and with the pterygoids and palatines behind. Pteryhsis Galline, 

 and not in the least Struthionine, the feather-tracts being well differentiated from 

 the bare tracts both on the upper and under parts. \_Cf. Seebohm, Classif. B. p. 43.] 



An excellent summary of the characters of the Crypturi is also given by Stejneger 

 (Stand. Nat. Hist., Birds, p. 52). Nest "a mere scrape, insufficiently lined with a few 

 grass-leaves " (Hudson, in Argent. Orn. ii. p. 210). Note of Rltynchotus rufescens a 

 " mellow flute-like sound, so expressive that it is, perhaps, the sweetest bird-mu.^ic 

 heard on the pampas" (Hudson, /. c). Eggs brown, greenish, purple, or blue, with 

 a peculiar gloss ; but the minute structure of the shell, according to Dr. Nathusius, 

 is quite dilferent from that of the true Qalli, and more resembles that of Apteryx. 



X The Megapodii and Graces are the Peristerojwdes of Huxley's celebrated paper on 

 the Classification and Distribution of the Alectoromo)ph(r; (P. Z. S. 1868, pp. 294-319). 

 The Phasiani are Huxley's Akdoropodes. 



§ Episternal process perforated to receive the feet of the coracoids ; nasals holorhiual ; 

 sternum more than twice the length of its inner notch ; hallux on the same level as the 

 other toes, and its basal phalanx as long as that of the third toe ; oil-gland nude. {Cf. 

 Seebohm, I. c.) Nest none. Eggs deposited in a mound raised by many of the birds 

 in concert. Young hatched without the intervention of the parent bird, aud able to 

 fly almost from birth. 



II Episternal process perforated to receive the feet of the coracoids ; nasals holorhinal ; 

 inner notch of sternum less than half the length of the whole sternum ; hallux on 

 the same level as the other toes, aud its basal phalanx as long as that of the third toe ; 

 oil-gland tufted. (Cf. Seebohm, l. c.) Nest in a tree. Eggs white, two in number. 



% The Pheasants, Grouse, and Partridges, with the Turkeys and Guinea-fowl, 

 make up the limits of the Suborder, as far as we know at present. They nest on the 



