CHAPTER XXI 



THE FOWL-LIKE BIRDS 



(Order Galliformes) 



[HE Galliformes, or Fowl-like birds, constitute a large, practically 

 cosmopolitan group of fairly well-marked birds, having the palate 

 schizognathous instead of dromaeognathous, the head of the quad- 

 rate bone double instead of single, the basal ends of the coracoids 

 united and crossed instead of separated, and the bill vaulted and more or less 

 decurved. They have large functional caeca, and a large crop, while the 

 oil-gland is generally tufted, though it is nude in the Megapodes and absent 

 altogether in certain Pheasants, such as Argusianus. 



The Order Galliformes is divided into four suborders : the Mescenatides with 

 the single family Mescenatida for the anamolous Madagascar Mesite; the Tur- 

 nices, which embraces the families Turnicida, or Hemipodes, and the Pediono- 

 mid(B, or Collared Hemipodes; the Galli, which includes three families, the 

 Megapodidtz, or Megapodes, the Cracidce, or Curassows, and Guans, and 

 the Phasianidce, or Turkeys, Partridges, Quails, Pheasants, etc.; and, finally, 

 the Opisthocomi, which includes only the South American Hoactzin, though the 

 last is usually, and perhaps with good reason, separated as a distinct order. 



THE MADAGASCAR MESITE 



(Suborder Mescenatides, Family M escenatidce) 



A very peculiar bird indeed is this so-called Mesite (Mescenas variegata) of 

 Madagascar, and quite in accord with many of the other anomalous life forms 

 that at one time, or still, inhabit that far-away island. It is a small, quite Rail- 

 like bird about ten and a half inches long, with a slender Grebe-like bill about the 

 length of the head, and very strong legs and feet, with four toes, the posterior 

 one of which is on the same level as the others; all the toes are provided with 

 strong, rather sharp claws. The nostrils are very peculiar in that they are long, 

 linear, concave, upturned slits, which extend for more than half the length of the 

 bill, and are covered above by a membranous valve-like lid. The wings are 

 short and rounded, with ten primaries, which are slightly exceeded in length by 

 the inner secondaries, while the tail is rather long and broad, and composed of 

 sixteen feathers. Another remarkable feature is the presence of five pairs of 

 powder-down patches, two of which are dorsal, two ventral, and one lateral, and 

 there are also four bare tracts on the body which extend for some distance up the 



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