35° 



THE ANIMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 



serration of the edges of the lower half of the beak. A well-known member of 

 the group is the Californian crested quail (Lophortyx calif ornicus), which owes 

 its name to the tuft of black feathers on the head. There are numerous other 

 generic representatives of the group, such as the bob- white (Colinus virginianus), 

 the ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus), and the sharp-tailed grouse (Pedioccetes 

 phasianellus). North and Central America form the exclusive home of the 

 turkeys, of which two or three species are known. One of these, Meleagris ocellata 

 (often separated generically as Agriocharis), is confined to Honduras, Guatemala, 

 and Yucatan. The others, on the contrary, are North American, the typical 



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MEXICAN TURKEY. 



Pigeons. 



Meleagris gallopavo inhabiting the south-western United States from western 

 Texas to Arizona and south to the Mexican table-land. 



Of the pigeons the most, remarkable was the passenger-pigeon 

 (Ectopistes migrator ivs) y which formerly travelled across many of the 

 more northerly states, notably Michigan and Wisconsin, in flocks many miles in 

 length, but now appears to be extinct. 



cranes Wading and water-birds abound in North America, especially in 



and Ducks, winter, when the waters are crowded with ducks, geese, and swans, 



but it is impossible to mention these in detail. By far the handsomest American 



member of a stately group of birds is the whooping crane (Grus americana), whose 



plumage is pure white, save for a patch of black down on the head. The most 



