ORDER GALLINtE. 243 



reproduction. The lagopedes alone live in numerous bands, 

 composed of many coveys, which do not separate until re- 

 turning spring. The habit of these birds i-s to perch fre- 

 quently during the day, and always at night. They are not 

 found except in cold climates, and very frequently in such as 

 are exposed to eternal frost. The northern parts of Europe, 

 Asia, and America, are their habitual sojourn. No species 

 are found in the Torrid Zone. 



The bill of these birds is short in proportion to the head ; 

 the upper mandible is very much curved from the place 

 where it appears beyond the feathers which garnish its base ; 

 it is more vaulted than in any of the rest of the gallinae ; the 

 nostrils are at the base of the bill, concealed by small and 

 very crowded feathers; above the eyes is a very apparent 

 nudity, furnished with papillae ; the tarsi are, in part, or 

 totally, furnished with long attenuated feathers ; the toes are 

 bordered with denticulated scales, and the sole of the foot is 

 rough. The lagopedes alone have the toes very much em- 

 plumed, but more so in winter than in summer. The first 

 remex of the wings is the shortest ; the second is very little 

 shorter than the third and fourth, which are the longest of 

 all. The tail is composed of eighteen broad and rounded 

 quills. The tetrao are heavy birds, whose body is very 

 fleshy. They announce the act of reproduction by peculiar 

 cries and movements ; their voice is particularly sonorous. 



The Wood Grous (Tetrao Urogallus) is the first of the 

 Grous proper. It is not necessary to be very expei't in 

 natural history to see that this bird is neither a cock nor a 

 pheasant. If ancient writers have not been agreed on so 

 plain a point, it only shows how little the bird was known in 

 former times. Even in later periods, vague indications, im- 

 proper denominations, which might be applied to different 

 genera, have occasioned gross mistakes concerning birds 

 which usually avoid the presence of man ; nor have the com- 



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