VULTURE-LIKE GUINEA-FOWL ON THE GROUND ( nat. size). 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE GAME-BIRDS AND RAILS, Orders GALLING 



AND FULICARLE. 



THE general appearance of the game-birds is so well-marked that the most 

 inexperienced can hardly fail to recognise them. The body in all is compact 

 and stout, and the neck rather long, supporting a fairly large rounded head, 

 with a moderately long, stout bill, the upper mandible being arched and 

 overhanging the lower. Though the legs vary in length, they are always strong 

 and adapted for rapid locomotion, the first toe being present, and the feet, with 

 their powerful, slightly-curved claws, specially suited for scratching up the ground. 

 The wings are concave, fitting close to the body, and the flight, though noisy and 

 somewhat laboured, is often extremely rapid. The tail varies greatly in shape and 

 size, being enormously lengthened and developed in some species of pheasant, while 

 in others, as the painted quail, it is rudimentary and hidden by the upper tail- 

 coverts. Among the more striking skeletal characters it may be mentioned in the 

 first place that the palate is of the cleft (schizognathous) type, while, secondly, the 

 breast-bone has two deep notches on each side of the posterior margin, and its 

 superior process perforated to receive the bases of the metacoracoids. The feathers 

 of the body are provided with after-shafts, and the young are born covered with 



