SUBFAMILY MELEAGRIN^. 



This division of the great family of the PhasianicUe 

 includes only the Wild Turkeys of the New World. By 

 some ornithologists these birds are deemed worthy of be- 

 ing considered a distinct family — Meleagridae, but it does 

 not appear that any particular advantage is gained by so 

 elevating them, or that these birds are any more entitled 

 to such a rank than many other species of Phasianidae 

 which have always been enrolled in subfamilies. The 

 Turkeys are no more characteristic and distinctive than 

 are the Pea-fowl, Tragopans, Crossoptilons, and many 

 others that might be mentioned, and are naturally a por- 

 tion of the one great family, containing the spurred, 

 beautifully plumaged fowl comprising the Phasianidae. 

 The Turkeys are of course very distinct from Partridges 

 and Grouse, and are properly placed in a different family, 

 their many and peculiar characters separating them 

 widely from the members of Tetraoninae, with which in- 

 deed, beside a dress of feathers, they have little in com- 

 mon. Beside the two North American species and the 

 two races, only one other species is known, the wonder- 

 fully plumaged Ocellated Turkey of certain portions of 

 Central America, which in its gorgeous metallic hues is 

 not surpassed in brilliancy by any other known bird. 



As game birds in the highest sense, affording sport 

 in the field, as well as food to countless people, the 

 Turkeys are among the most important members to the 

 human race of the feathered tribes. 



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