574 



SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — GALLINJ£—ALECTOBOPODES. 



eggs are very numerous, usually laid on the ground, in a rude nest, or none. The suborder is 

 cosmopolitan; but most of its groups have a special geogra]diical distribution. Its great eco- 

 nomic importance is perceived in all fjrms of domestic poultry, and principal game-birds of 

 various countries; and it is unsurpassed in beauty — some of these birds offer the most 

 gorgeous coloring of the class. 



Genetically, tlie Fowls 

 are nearer than most 

 birds to a geueridized, 

 old-fashioned type. Tlicy 

 have relations in the cu- 

 riously ostrich -like Tina- 

 rnous of South America 

 (Tinamidce or Crypturi), 

 the Hoatzin (Ojnsthoco- 

 mns), and other antique 

 relicts. Notice a quarter- 

 grown Turkey with this 

 idea in nund, and you will 

 hardly fail to see tliat 

 it looks like an ostrich 

 in miniature. Leading 

 types of existing Alec- 

 toropod Gallince are the 

 Quail, the Grouse, tlie 

 Guinea-fowl, the Tur- 

 key, and the domesti<! 

 Cock. The two former 

 are very close to each 

 other, and hardly sepa- 

 rable as families ; the 

 three latter are nearer 

 one another, and often 

 placed together in a fam- 

 ily. The families Td- 

 raonidcs, Grouse, Quail, 

 and Partridges; and J/e- 

 JeagrididcB, Turkeys, are 

 indigenous to N. Am., 

 and fully treated beyond. 

 A word on the others will 

 n(.>t be misplaced here. 



Tlic Guinea-fowl, Nu- 

 mididw, of which a sjic- 

 cics, Numida meleagris, 

 is conunonly seen in do- 

 mestication, are an African and Madagascau type. While tlie foregoing families are strongly 

 specialized, this fme, like the turkey family, more closely approaches the true fowl, and 

 both may be oidy subfamilies of PJiasianidcc. The bones of the pinion have a certain 

 peculiarity ; the frontal generally develops a protuberance ; there are wattles, but no spurs ; the 

 tail is \'ery short ; the head naked. There are six or eight spiecies of Numida, in some of 



Fig. 394. — English Pheasant, Phasianus colchicus. {Frdni Dixon.) 



