THE 



ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



Class AVES. 



THE FOURTH ORDER OF BIRDS, GALLINM, 

 OR GALLINACEOUS BIRDS, 



So named from their affinity with the domestic cock, 

 * have, in general, Hke that bird, the upper mandible 

 vaulted, the nostrils pierced in a large membrana- 

 ceous space at the base of the bill covered by a 

 cartilaginous scale. Their disposition and mien are 

 dull ; their wings are short ; their bony sternum is 

 diminished by two emarginations, so large and deep 

 that they occupy almost the whole sides ; the crest is 

 truncated obliquely in front, so that the sharp point of 

 the furca is joined to it only by a ligament. All 

 these circumstances, by weakening the pectoral mus- 

 cles, render their flight difficult. Their tail has, in 

 general, fourteen, and sometimes eighteen feathers ; 

 their lower larynx is very simple : hence none of 

 them sing well ; their crop is very large, and their 

 gizzard very powerful. If we except the Alectors, 

 they lay and cover their eggs on the ground on 

 some bits of straw or grass, negligently put together. 



VOL. VIII, B 



