of the United States. 121 



ORDER III. GALLINiE. 



Gallina,' L. Gm. Lath. Cuv. Temm. Ranz. 



Rasores, HI. Gallinacei, Vieill. Latr. 



Bill short, hard, convex ; upper mandible vaulted, curved, 

 the margins projecting over the lower : nostrils lateral, half 

 covered by an arched, cartilaginous, membrane. Head small : 

 neck rather short, thick : body massive, but slightly com- 

 pressed. Feet stout, covered by a rough coriaceous skin ; 

 tibiae fleshy, wholly feathered ; tarsus short or moderate, 

 rounded ; toes thick, moderate, scabrous beneath, three be- 

 fore and generally one behind, articulated with the tarsus 

 higher than the rest, hardly touching the ground at tip ; sole 

 callous : nails moderate, somewhat obtuse, convex, but little 

 incurved, not in the least retractile. Wings generally short, 

 rounded, concave ; quills stiff and curved. Tail of from 

 ten to eighteen feathers, very rarely wanting. 



Female smaller, differing considerably from the male ; in 

 most species much less brilliant in plumage. Young at first co- 

 vered with thick down, gradually replaced by feathers. Moult 

 generally but once in the year. Contains the most beautiful 

 of birds. 



Keeping on the ground : scratching the earth: dusting 

 themselves. Granivorous : searching for corn and other 

 seeds, and feeding sometimes on garden vegetables, berries, 

 buds of trees, and insects : macerate their food in their mus- 

 cular crop ; aiding digestion by means of small stones, he. 

 Chiefly polygamous : females alone attending to the nest, in- 

 cubation, and education, the males of most species hardly 

 assisting : nest on the ground, inartificially composed of a few 

 straws : lay several times in the year; eggs numerous : chicks 



