422 RASORES. TETRAO. 



FAMILY III. TETRAONID^E, LEACH. 



NEARLY allied to the preceding family follows that of the 

 Tetraonidse, distinguished by the entire or partial absence 

 of those naked and carunculated appendages that ornament 

 the head and cheeks of the Phasianidcs, and by the con- 

 struction of the hind toe, which becomes gradually shorter 

 and weaker, and is at length entirely lost in such groups as 

 lead immediately to the succeeding family of the Struthio- 

 nldce. The preceding observations upon the habits of the 

 Phasianidce are in a great degree applicable to the members 

 of the present family. Like them, some species are polyga- 

 mous, others are in habit of annually pairing. They con- 

 struct their nests upon the ground, and lay a great number 

 of eggs. Their food consists of grain, seeds, roots, the harder 

 tops of heath and other plants, and of insects. Some of 

 the groups, as the genera Tetrao, Lagopus, &c. inhabit 

 mountainous regions, braving the inclemency of the severest 

 arctic winters. Others, as the genera Francolinus, Turnix^ 

 Tinamus, &c. are natives of the warmer latitudes of both 

 worlds ; and the genera Pterocles, Syrrhaptes, he. are only 

 found on the sandy and rocky deserts of the African and 

 Asiatic continents. 



GENUS TETRAO, LINN. GROUS. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



BILL short, strong ; the upper mandible convex, and 

 arched from the base to the tip. Nostrils basal, and lateral ; 

 partly closed by an arched scale, and hidden from view by 

 small closely-set feathers. Eye-brows naked, and adorned 

 with a red papillose and fringed skin. Wings short; the first 

 quill much inferior in length to the second, which is shorter 

 than the third and fourth. Tail of sixteen feathers. Feet 



