202 GALLIFORMES 



CHAP. 



splendid Capercaillie {T. urogallas) to the small Quail -like 

 Excalpliatoria sinensis, are all weighty birds for their bulk, risino- 

 heavily and noisily, and travelling with low and steady, though 

 often laboured, flight ; in many eases the pace is extremely 

 rapid, but comparatively short distances are covered before 

 alighting. On the whole, they are certainly partial to dry 

 localities, which may, however, be prairies and heaths, as in 

 many Grouse, wooded or open country generally, as in Pheasants, 

 or stony hill -sides, as in TetraogaUus, Ammoperdix, and some 

 species of Lagopus and Caccabis ; yet a few seem to prefer the 

 vicinity of marshes, and others are constantly met with at con- 

 siderable elevations. The great facility with which game-birds 

 run, their frequent custom of lying until they are almost trodden 

 upon, and that of combining into coveys or packs consisting of 

 two or more broods, are too well-known to need lengthy descrip- 

 tion here. The strutting and parading of the cocks of the larger 

 species is fully noticed below, while the habit common to most ! 

 forms of dusting themselves, instead of washing, is also noticeable. 

 Many are almost entirely terrestrial, a love for trees being in fact 

 exceptional ; nevertheless, instances might easily be adduced of 

 roosting on branches or taking refuge there when disturbed, 

 and though Lagopus, Francolinus, and Perdix are notoriously 

 averse to perching, the writer himself has seen five or six 

 Eed Grouse sitting on low trees, within half an hour. Tetvao, 

 Lyrurus, Fhasianus, Pavo, and Meleagris well exemplify the 

 polygamous habits not unfrequent in the Family, the males 

 in such cases usually deserting their mates during incubation \ 

 Coturnix and Ortyx, moreover, are stated to be not invariably 

 monogamous. The nest is nearly always on or close to the 

 ground, and is formed of a few twigs, grass, moss, feathers, and 

 leaves ; the hole, usually scraped as a commencement, being 

 sometimes barely lined. Polyplectron, as a rule, deposits two 

 eggs, but the number in most species is much greater, from 

 sixteen to twenty l,)eing not uncommonly found, or even more 

 where two hens lay together a fairly ordinary practice in 

 the group. The colour in Grouse is yellowish or reddish, 

 either with rufous spots or close blotches of black, purple, 

 or orange-brown ; in the Pheasant and Partridge it is uniform 

 olive, and in the Odontophorinae pure white, with or with- 

 out brown or red markings. Further information is sjjiven 



