4i6 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



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all of which are confined to Australasia. They are characterised by a huge and very beautiful 

 fan-shaped crest of feathers which springs from the crown of the head. 



At the other extreme stand the NamA(jUA and SCALY DoVES. The former is regarded by 

 Professor Newton as one of the most graceful in form of all the Pigeon Tribe : the latter are 

 scarcel)', if at all, larger than the sparrows. 



The power of flight of some forms is, however, extremely limited ; they bid fair in course 

 of time to become flightless, like the dodo and the solitaire. The most interesting of these 

 is the Grev-XAPED GrciUX1)-I'IGE(.ix. Pigeons for the most part display a marked preference 

 for a life among the trees rather than on the ground ; but there are some which are essentially 

 ground-dwellers. The species in which this changed habit is most deeply rooted, and probably 

 of longest standing, exhibit one very interesting point of difference from their neighbours of 

 the woods. This difference consists in the very considerably longer legs which mark the 

 ground-haunting bird. The Gkev-naped Grdunu-pigeon of Soutli-east New Guinea forms an 

 excellent example, inasmuch as the legs are much longer than in any other pigeon. These 

 birds (for there are three species in all) resemble the Mcgapodes in habit, and frequent hills 

 or dense thickets. The)' la}- one egg, which is deposited at the foot of a tree. 



Among domesticated breeds is the English Pouter, a bird characterised by its enormous 



gullet, which can be distended with air 

 ' whenever the owner wills. The carriage of 

 the body is vertical, not, as in pigeons 

 generally, horizontal. The CARRIER is a breed 

 illustrating the result of long-sustained selec- 

 tion to increase, amongst other characters, 

 the development of the bare skin surrounding 

 the eye and beak of all pigeons, wild or tame. 

 Inthe Short-EACEI) TUxMBLER we have abreed 

 wherein those birds with the shortest beaks 

 have been steadily bred from. To-da\- so 

 little beak is left that some individuals are 

 hatched which, when grown up, are unable to 

 feed themseh-es. An example of a radical 

 change in the feathers is the Indian Frill- 

 BACK. In this case the feathers all over 

 the body are reversed, or turned forwards, 

 giving the bird a quite extraordinary appearance. In the Jac'dbln we have a breed — and we 

 could cite others — wherein the feathers of the neck are much elongated, and turn upwards 

 and forwards over the head to form a hood. 



In general appearance Sand-GROUSE arc small, very short-legged birds, with small heads 

 and pointed wings and tail. Their general tone of coloration may be described as sand- 

 coloured, and this has been adopted to render them in harmony with the barren sand-wastes 

 in which they dwell. But some may be described as quite highl}- coloured, being banded and 

 splashed with chestnut, black, pearl)' grc)', white, and yellow, according to the species. 



Pallas's Sand-GR( )USE is a native of the Kirghiz Steppes, extending through Central Asia to 

 l\Iongolia and Northern China, and northwards to Lake Baikal, and southwards to Turkestan. 

 Here they may be met with in enormous numbers. In North China large numbers are often 

 caught after a snow-storm. The snow is cleared away, and a small green bean is scattered about. 

 Young sand-grouse difter remarkably in one particular from young pigeons, inasmuch as the 

 former are hatched covered with a thick down, and are able to run about soon after leaving 

 the egg, whilst the pigeon comes into the world very helpless and much in need of clothing. 

 Three eggs are laid by the sand-grouse, and these are double-spotted ; whilst the pigeon lays 

 but two, which are white. The eggs of the sand-grouse are laid in a depression in the ground, 

 without any nest. 



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Mtro h L. Midland, F.Z.S.] [\ h F n hi 



MALE BLACK-BELLIED SAND-GROUSE 



1 oung sand-grouse run directly they arc hatched^ thus di'ffcrin\r^ from 

 young pigeons 



