230 Wonders of the Bird World 



the Birds of Prey, for example, the female is generally the 

 larger and more powerful bird, though the sexes are, with 

 few exceptions, alike in plumage ; but in certain other cases 

 the plumage of the hen is brighter and more ornamental 

 than that of the male. Where the male is decidedly the 

 inferior being, it would seem that he is made to perform 

 the duties of incubation, though this fact cannot be insisted 

 upon as a sign of inferiority, for in many species the 

 male and female equally assist in the hatching of the eggs 

 and the rearing of the young. As before noticed (p. 

 16), the young of the Ratite birds are always under the 

 charge of the father, and not only do the Ostriches and 

 Rheas illustrate this phenomenon, but the most Ostrich- 

 like of the Game-birds, the Tinamous, likewise observes the 

 same method of incubation. 



One of the most curious instances of the superiority of 

 the female over the male, both in size and beauty of 

 colouration, is seen in the Hemipodes or Bustard-quails 

 (Hemipodii). These are little birds, not much bigger 

 than our common Sparrow. In appearance they resemble 

 ordinary Quails, but they are distinguished from the latter 

 and the rest of the Game-birds by the absence of the hind- 

 toe, although in the Collared Plain-wanderer (Pedionomus 

 torquatus) a rudimentary hind-toe is present. The Hemi- 

 podes are only found in the Old World, and are inhabitants 

 of Africa, India, China, the Burmese countries, the Malayan 

 Peninsula and islands, as far as the Australian continent. 

 Thus the genus Turnix has a very wide range, which, in 

 addition to the countries enumerated above, embraces the 

 countries of the Western Mediterranean basin, where the 

 Andalusian Hemipode {Turnix sylvaticd) is found. In 

 most species of the genus the female is not only larger 

 than the male, but she is even more brightly coloured 

 than her mate, and though such a difference of plumage 

 does not amount to much in a Hemipode, yet it is 



