GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 43 
Sometimes these feathers descend only as far as the 
toes, but in the ptarmigan (Lagopus—harefoot) the 
whole foot is thickly covered with dense hairlike feath- 
ers, which serve to protect it from cold and no doubt 
to some extent facilitate progression over soft snow. In 
the grouse, too, the toes are pectinated—provided with 
a horny comblike structure—on either side, and these 
are the only members of the group that are so pro- 
vided. In some species, if not in all, these pectinations 
are deciduous. Spurs with a bony core and a horny 
sheath, thus resembling the horn of a cow—such as we 
see in the turkey and the male of the domestic fowl— 
are common to all the male pheasants. In some species 
there are two or more spurs on each foot and in some, 
spurs are present in the female. They are not found 
in the grouse or the partridges. 
In the grouse family a little tuft of projecting feath- 
ers runs forward on each side of the bill and covers the 
nostrils. In the partridges the nostril is naked, but is 
protected by a scale which overhangs it. 
In the gallinaceous birds the plumage is as varied 
as it is possible to conceive, ranging from the most bril- 
liant metallic sheens of all hues in some of the pheas- 
ants, to the plainest, dullest clay color in some par- 
tridges and grouse, as the sage grouse, or the white- 
tailed ptarmigan in summer plumage. Many of the 
American quails are singularly beautiful birds, but 
less by the brilliancy of their colors than by the fine con- 
trasts or harmonies which their plumage exhibits. Of 
all these birds in America, however, only the gorgeous 
