370 RASORES. 



usual number of feathers, having from fourteen to eighteen. 

 Their food is, with few exceptions, vegetable, being chiefly de- 

 rived from the seeds and grains of plants. These birds multi- 

 ply with great rapidity, are easily domesticated, and as furnish- 

 ing man with a large quantity of wholesome and delicate food, 

 deserve special regard. Some of them, as the Peacock and 

 Pheasant, are also interesting for the beauty and stateliness of 

 their forms, and the diversity of their plumage. In the few spe- 

 cies of this family which associate in pairs, such as the Ptarmi- 

 gan and Partridge, the male and female birds are nearly alike, 

 both in size and color. 



The Scratchers are arranged into seven families, viz. : (1) 

 Columbida, Pigeons ; (2) Cracida, Currassows ; (3) Megapodi- 

 da, Megapodes, or large-footed Birds; (4) Phasianida, Pheas- 

 ants ; (5) Tetraonidce, Grouse ; (6) Chionida, Sheath-bills ; (7) 

 Tinamida, Tinamous. 



FIRST FAMILY. PIGEONS. 

 Columbida, (Lat. Columba, a dove or pigeon.) 



The food, habits, and internal economy of these birds, and the 

 form of their bills entitle them, in the judgment of Cuvier and 

 others, to a place among the RASORES. They, however, show 

 resemblances to the Perchers, which have led some naturalists to 

 place them in that order. The feet of the Pigeons, though fol- 

 lowing the type of the Perchers, allow them to spend most of 

 their time on the ground, and many of them perch very little. 

 They differ from the Gallinaceous birds, in pairing, which is 

 contrary to the habits of the latter, also in having the hind toe 

 on the same level with the others, whereas the Gallinaceous 

 birds have the hind toe higher up. The variations of the Pig- 

 eons from both the Scratchers and Perchers, have induced yet 

 other naturalists to erect them into a separate order, Gyratores, 

 (Gr. guros, a circle.) or CIRCLING Birds, a name referring to their 

 mode of flying in circles. 



The Pigeons include a large number of elegant and amiable birds, 

 spread over every part of the world. One of their principal pe- 

 culiarities is the crop, which ordinarily is thin, but which, when 

 the young are about to be hatched, becomes expanded on each 

 side of the gullet, and very irregular as to its internal surface. 

 From this organ the parent bird supplies its young with food, pre- 

 viously rendered suitable by the action of a milky fluid that is 

 secreted in the crop ; this fluid, it is said, coagulates with acids 

 and forms curd. This apparatus constitutes among the Birds the 



