BRITISH BIRDS, 



WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



ORDER GALLIN/E. 



THIS important order includes two distinct families of English Game Birds, 

 the Phasianidas or Pheasants and their allies, and the Tetraonidae, which 

 includes the Ptarmigan and the Grouse. The birds of this family are character- 

 ized by short bills, with the upper mandible much curved. The wings are short, 

 concave, and rounded. 



The Grouse, properly so-called, constituting the genus Tetrao, have the skin 

 naked above the eye, and covered with red papillae. The fifth quill of the wing 

 is the longest, and the tail consists of eighteen feathers. The legs are feathered 

 to the toes, but these are naked. The genus Tetrao includes the two English 

 species, the Capercaillie, T. urogallus, and the Black Grouse, T. tetrix. 



The genus Lagopus has the same characters of the bill, but in the wings the 

 third or fourth quills are the longest, and the tail has sixteen in place of eighteen 

 feathers. The birds of this genus are also remarkably distinguished by the feet, 

 as well as the legs, being completely feathered to the ends of the toes. 



The habits of the birds of these two groups are remarkably different, those 

 of the genus Tetrao perch on trees, but the birds of the genus Lagopus rarely, if 



VOL V. B 



