
SSS ——- 

VULTURE-LIKE GUINEA-FKOWL ON THE GROUND (} nat. size). 
CHAPTER XVII. 
THe GAME-Brrps AND Ratis,—Orders GALLINZ 
AND FULICARLZ. 
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 
