676 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — GALLING — ALECTOROPOVES. 



36. Family MELEAGRIDID^ : Turkeys. 



Head and upper ueck naked, carunculate ; in our species with a dewlap and erectile pro- 

 cess. Tarsi naked, scutellato before and behind, spurred in the ^ . Tail broad, rounded, of 

 14-18 feathers. Plumage compact, lustrous ; in our species witli a tuft of hair-like feathers 

 ou the breast. Oue genus, two species. M. ocelkdun is the very beautiful Turkey of Central 

 America. 

 203. MELEA'GRIS. (Gr. fxeKeaypU, Lat. meleagris, a guinea-fowl ; transferred in ornithology to 

 tliis genus.) TuRKEY,s. Characters of the family. 



553. M. gallipa'vo. (Lat. gallus, a cock, imvo, a pea-fowl. Fig. 395.) Turkey. Upper tail- 

 coverts chestuut, witli paler or whitish tips ; tail-feathers tipped with brovniish-yellow or 

 whitish ; 3-i feet long, etc. Wild in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and southward ; domesti- 

 cated elsewhere. The Mexican bird is the original of the domestic race ; it was upon this 

 form, imported into Europe, tliat Liuua3us imposed the name gallopavo (Fn. Suec. No. 198; 

 Syst. Nat. i, 1706, 208), which lias generally been applied to the following feral variety : 



554. M. g. ainerica'na. Eastern Wild Turkey. Upper tail-coverts without light tips, and ends 

 of tail-feathers scarcely paler. This is the ordinary wild turkey of Eastern North America; 

 N. to Canada, where it is said still to occur ; extirpated in New England. NW. to the 

 Missouri, ai)d SW. to Texas. The slight differences just noted seem to be remarkably con- 

 stant, and to be rarely if ever shown by the other form; although, as usual in domestic birds, 

 this last varies interminably iu color. 



87. Family TETRAONID^ : Grouse ; Partridge ; Quail. 



All the remaining gallinaceous birds are very closely related, probably constituting a 

 single family ; although the term Tetraonida: is usually restricted to the true Grouse as below 

 defined (Tetraonines), the Partridges and Quails being erected into another family, Perdicidtp, 

 with several subfamilies. But the Grouse do not appear to differ more froui the Partridges 

 and Quails than these do froui each other, and they are all variously interrelated; so that no 

 violence will be offered in uniting them. One group of the Partridges {Odontophorina:) is 

 confined to America; all the rest to the Old World. The leading forms among the latter are 

 Perdi.r, the true partridge ; Coturnix, the true Quail ; FrancoUnus, the Francolins ; with 

 RoUidu.s and Caccahw. In all, perhaps a hundred species and a dozen genera. Without 

 attempting to frame a family diagnosis to cover all their modifications, I wiU precisely define 

 the American f(jrms, as two subfamilies. 



Analysis of Subfamilies. 



Tetraonik.1!:. Gramme. The shank (tarsus) more or less feathered. (Plenty more characters, but this 



is perfectly distinctive,) 

 ODONTOPHOltlN.E. American Partridges and Quails. The shank entirely bare and scaly. (Plenty 



more cliaracters, etc.) 



Obs. — The vernacular names "pheasant," " partridge," and "quail," as applied to our 

 game birds in different sections of the country, are the cause of endless confusion and misun- 

 derstanding, which it seems hopeless to attempt to do away with. (1.) The word " pheasant" 

 (derived from the name of the river Phasis in Colchis) belongs to certain Old World Phasianidce 

 (see above ; and fig. 394) having no representatives in America. But early settlers of this country 

 applied it to the Kufl'ed Grouse, Bonasa umbella — and "pheasant" is the Euft'ed Grouse called 

 to this day by the conunon people of the Middle and Southern States. (2.) " Partridge " is an old 

 English word, s])ecifically designating the English Perdix cinerea, then enlarged in meaning to 

 cover all the family Perdicidm (see beyond). In the Northern States, both the Sjiruce Grouse, 

 Canace canadensis, and the Ruffed Grouse, are comniouly called "partridge." In the Middle 



