218 



Div. 1. YERTEBRATE ANIMALS— A VES. 



Class 2. 



Others, 



The Attagens {Syrrhaptes, Illiger), — 



Arc so far removed from the general type of the Poultry, that it is even douhtfiil whether they should 

 range in the present order. [They appear to be nearly related to the Gangas.] Their short tarsi are 

 feathered, as are also the toes, which are short, and joined together for a part of their length ; the 

 ■wings being extremely long and pointed. 



But one species is known, from the deserts of central Asia [and very rarely eastern Europe,] (T. paradoxus, 

 Pallas), the Heteroclyte of Temminck. 



We are equally necessitated to separate from the Grouse 



The Tinamous {Tinamus, Latham ; Cryptiirus, Illiger), — 

 An American genus, remarkable for a long and slender neck, (although the tarsi are short,) covered with 

 feathers, the tips of the barbs of which are slender and sliglitly curled, which imparts a peculiar air to 

 that part of their plumage. The beak is long, slender, and blunt at the end ; somewhat vaulted, with 

 a small groove at each side : the nostrils are pierced in the middle of each side, and penetrate obliquely 

 backwards. Their wings are short, and they have scarcely any tail. The membrane between the base 

 of their toes is very short. Their thumb, reduced to a S]mr, cannot touch the ground. They have a 



small naked snace round the eye. These birds either perch 

 on low branches, or conceal themselves in tall grass ; they 

 live on fruits and insects, and their flesh is very good. Their 

 size varies from that of a Pheasant down to that of a Quail, 

 or even stili smaller. [Eggs of a deep pnrjjle colour.] 



Some of them (the Peziis of Spix). have a snia!l tail concealed 

 imder the fcatlicrs of the rump. Others (the Tinainiis of Spix have 

 no tail at all, and tlie nostrils are placed a little furti er backward. 



We should distinguish the R/i;/iic/iolix of Spix, wherein the heak, 

 which is stronu-er, has no groove, and is a little arcuated and de- 

 pressed, with the nostrils pierced towards the base. 



The Pigeons {Columha, Lin.) — 

 May be considered as forming some j)assage from the 

 GallincE to the PasseriiKP. As in the former, their 

 beak is vaulted, the nostrils arc pierced in a large mem- 

 branous space, and covered uith a cartilaginous scale, 

 which even forms a hidge at the base othe beak: the 



bonj' sternum (fig. Ill) is deeidy and doubly cmarginatcd, althottgli somewhat dittereiitly [the 



inner notch being mostly reduced to a foramen ; the ridge of tlie 



sternum deep, and rounded off anteriorly (much as in the Par- 

 rots) ; and the fureula flat and destitute of any ajipcndage]. The 



crop (fig. 70, p. 161)) is extremely large [and double, or expanding 



on each side of the oeso])hagus, in which it (litters from that ot 



any other bird ; it also secretes a lacteal substance, as in the 



Parrots, during the period of incubation. The gizzard is j)ower- 



fully muscular; the intestines very long and slender, with minute 



cceca; and there is no gall bladder]. The inferior larynx is fur- 

 nished with but one muscle projjcr — [we have invariably found 



two pairs] ; but there is no other membrane between the base of 



the toes than that which results from the continuity of the edges. 



The tail consists of twelve feathers, and they fly tolerably well. 



These birds are invariably monogamous, nestle in trees or the 



holes of rocks, and lay but very few eggs, ordinarily two, though 



they breed often. Both sexes incubate, ami they feed their young 



by disg(n"ging grain macerated in the crop. They form but one 



great genus, which naturalists have attempted to divide into three 



subgenera, from the greater or less strength of the b'U, and the proportions of the feet. 



Fig. 110. — Siemam of Tincmou. 



Fig. 111. — Steniuiii vf PigeOD, 



