SUBFAMILY MELEAGRIN-. 
Tuts division of the great family of the Phasianide 
includes only the Wild Turkeys of the New World. By 
some ornithologists these birds are deemed worthy of be- 
ing considered a distinct family—Meleagridz, but it does 
not appear that any particular advantage is gained by so 
elevating them, or that these birds are any more entitled 
to such a rank than many other species of Phasianidze 
which have always been enrolled in subfamilies. The 
Turkeys are no more characteristic and distinctive than 
are the Pea-fowl, Tragopans, Crossoptilons, and many 
others that might be mentioned, and are naturally a por- 
tion of the one great family, containing the spurred, 
beautifully plumaged fowl comprising the Phasianide. 
The Turkeys are of course very distinct from Partridges 
and Grouse, and are properly placed in a different family, 
their many and peculiar characters separating them 
widely from the members of Tetraoninz, with which in- 
deed, beside a dress of feathers, they have little in com- 
mon. Beside the two North Americaa species and the 
two races, only one other species is known, the wonder- 
fully plumaged Ocellated Turkey of certain portions of 
Central America, which in its gorgeous metallic hues is 
not surpassed in brilliancy by any other known bird. 
As game birds in the highest sense, affording sport 
in the field, as well as food to countless people, the 
Turkeys are among the most important members to the 
human race of the feathered tribes. 
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