GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 14^ 



GALLINACEOUS BIRDS {Gallince). 



We have now arrived at an important division of the feathered tribes, all the members of which are 

 more or less terrestrial. They generally procure their food from the surface of the ground, upon 

 which they run or walk with facility, and many of them scratch up the earth in search of such 

 nutritive materials as serve for their subsistence. They have, therefore, in conformity with such a 

 mode of life, a short or moderately long beak, which is usually vaulted above. Their body is heavy, 

 and their wings generally short. They all live principally upon grain, and are furnished with a 

 strong muscular gizzard. To this order belong our game birds, and most of our poultry. Their 

 flesh is edible, and supplies us with wholesome and nutritious food, and from the facility with which 

 they are procurable, and the ease with which some are domesticated, are of the utmost importance 

 to mankind. 



The members of this division were separated by Cuvier into two sections — the COLUMB^, or 

 Pigeons, and the GALLING, properly so called. More recently, however, these sections have been 

 considered as forming two distinct orders, distinguished by the names of the PIGEONS {Gyratores) 

 and the SCRAPERS {Rasores), or TRUE GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. 



PIGEONS. 



The place which the Pigeons ought to occupy in the zoological system has been a very fertile 

 subject of dispute. Linnasus classed them with the Passcrcs; Buffon, Pennant, and Latham arrange 

 them as an order by themselves ; while Cuvier and others place them in the categoiy of Gallinaceous 

 Birds. The settlement of this question is, indeed, a matter of considerable difficulty, as the habits of 

 the entire race are in many respects very peculiar. Like the Passerine Birds, they associate in pairs 

 during the nuptial season, work together in the construction of their nest, and materially assist in the 

 incubation of tlieir eggs and the care of their progeny, which latter, blind and helpless when they are 

 first hatched, are fed in the nest that forms their cradle, and which they never quit until fully fledged; 

 indeed, for some time afterwards they are unable to supply their own wants, and depend entirely 

 upon the assistance of their parents. The features in which they differ from the Passerine race are, 

 however, equally well marked ; these consist in their manner of drinking and of administering food to 

 their young family, in the singularity of their caresses, in the nature of their plumage, and in their 

 vocal capabilities. They neither sing nor utter any cry j their only voice in the adult state consists of 

 a full, rolling sound, generally designated by the term " cooing." Other dissimilarities separate them 

 from the Gallinaceous races, with which they have little in common, either in their instincts, theii" 

 manner of life, or their mode of pairing. The GallincB are almost all of them pol3'gamists, and the 

 females, by laying numerous eggs, produce a covey at a single brood. Moreover, in temperate 

 climates, this happens but once in the year. The Pigeons, on the contrary, are all of them strictly 

 monogamous, and the female lays but two eggs for each sitting, although she has several broods. In 

 the Gallinaceous tribes the male renders no assistance to the female, either in the construction of the 

 nest or in the care of their progeny. The chickens are born with their eyesight perfect, and as soon 

 as they escape from the egg-shell are able to run about, and procure for themselves their own food. 

 The principal distinctive character of the Columbm is furnished by the structure of die bill. The 

 upper mandible consists of a horny apical portion, which is often of considerable length and strength, 



