78 BIRDS GALLINACEOUS DIAGRAM 4 



ORDEE OF GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 



The partridge belongs to the order of gallinaceous birds. 

 It makes a clumsy nest of dry grass 

 in the fields, heaped up in a hole on 

 the ground. It lays fifteen or twenty 

 whitish grey eggs, .which hatch in 

 three weeks. The parents then show 

 the young ones how to scratch the 

 ground to look for ant's eggs. But as 

 so many young ones could not be kept 

 Foot of Partridge. under the wings of a partridge, the 

 father and mother sit side by side to protect them all. 



The quails arrive here in spring, and migrate about the month 

 of September. As they fly badly, they wait for a favourable 

 wind to start, and only cross the seas where they can find rocks 

 and islands upon which they rest from time to time. 



The peacock, pheasant, and guinea-fowl are chiefly valued as 



Pheasant. 



ornamental birds. The peacock is perhaps the most beautiful 

 of all birds ; but the male alone has the well-known tail of 

 brilliant large feathers, which can be raised and spread like a 

 fan. The female peacock is grey, and has not this brilliant 

 plumage. It is common in birds for the male to be more orna- 

 mented than the female ; but this difference is very obvious in 

 the game birds ; the females of the peacock, pheasant, and fowl, 

 have less beautiful feathers than the males. 



The peacocks and pheasants come originally from Asia, and 



