CHAPTER VIII 



THE ** GAME-BIRDS " 



Order— GALLIFORMES 



The term '* Game-birds " naturally suggests Pheasants and 

 Partridges, and these may indeed be regarded as typical Game-birds. 

 But for want of a better name we have also to include all the rela- 

 tives of these birds near and remote, and this relationship is deter- 

 mined by anatomical characters. Of these, some are apparent 

 externally, such as the form of the beak and of the legs, and the 

 general shape of the wings and body. The beak has the upper por- 

 tion arched, and completely overlapping the lower ; while the legs 

 have strong toes and short, blunt claws, thus forming admirable 

 digging and scratching tools. As a rule these legs are covered with 

 scales, and are commonly armed with one or more pairs of very 

 powerful spurs. But some have very short legs, feather-clad, and 

 without spurs. 



The Game-birds are divided into two great groups — one in which 

 the hind-toe is on the same level as the other toes, and the other in 

 which the hind-toe is placed at a higher level than the rest. To the 

 former belong the curious Mound-birds, or Megapodes, and the 

 equally curious Guans and Curassows — birds which space forbids us to 

 describe here. All the rest of the Game-birds belong to the section 

 which have the hind-toe at a higher level than the rest. 



In both sections the young birds are clad in down, and able to run 

 about immediately they leave the egg. 



Of this second group, or section, of the Game-birds, the most 

 ancient types must be described first, and among these we may reckon 



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