Ill 



Order— Gallinae. Gallinaceous Birds. Scratching Birds. 



As the name implies, these birds are adapted for securing their food 

 by scratching the ground. The best popular representatives are the 

 common barnyard poultry, but the order glides almost imperceptibly 

 into the Pigeons on the one hand and the Shore Birds on the other. They 

 are found in almost every country on the globe. In Canada we have only 

 one suborder of the group, Phasiani, the True Fowls. 



SUBORDER— PHASIANI. TRUE FOWLS. PHEASANTS, QUAILS, GROUSE, 



AND PTARMIGAN. 



General Description. This suborder is composed of birds with strong, compact feet, 

 four toes, and blunt claws adapted for scratching the ground (Figure 28, p. 22). Though 

 best adapted for terrestrial life they perch readily in trees and often feed and roost there. 

 Bills short, horny, and with strongly arched culmen (Figure 29, p. 23); nostrils set in a 

 soft intrusion into the base of the bill; wings short and round. These birds rarely take 

 wing except for short flights or to avoid immediate danger. 



Nesting. On the ground, eggs laid on the dead grass or leaves with little or no prepar- 

 ation. 



Distribution. Species of this suborder are found in all parts of Canada. The Ruffed 

 and Spruce Grouse and the Turkey are birds of the woodlands; the Bob-white, Prairie 

 Chicken, and Sharp-tail inhabit open or prairie country; and the Ptarmigan, the barren 

 lands of the extreme north. 



Three families of this order are represented in Canada. Odontopho- 

 ridae the American Quail, Tetraonidce the Grouse, and Meleagridoe the 

 Turkeys. 



Economic Status. Their food is both insectivorous and vegetable — 

 grains, buds, leaves, fruit, and insects being equally acceptable to them. 

 As several species frequent cultivated fields their economic status is of 

 interest to the husbandman and has been the subject of considerable in- 

 vestigation the results of which show that some of them are among the 

 most useful birds on the farm. The insect portion of the food of some 

 species is decidedly important and very little complaint can be made 

 against the other items as they are mostly waste or wild material of little 

 or no consequence to the agriculturist. 



Like most of our larger birds they have been greatly reduced in number, 

 and should be strictly protected and their killing limited to the natural 

 annual surplus, leaving an ample permanent breeding stock untouched. 



FAMILY — ODONTOPHOEID^I. AMERICAN QUAILS. 



General Description. The smallest representatives of the suborder in Canada. The 

 nostril is partly covered with a fleshy scale and not so well hidden in the feathering in this 

 family as in the Grouse. There is only one species of the family in eastern Canada. 



The term "Quail" for our American birds is a misnomer. They are 

 not Quails in the European sense but true Partridges. Moreover our 

 "Partridges" are Grouse. These are examples of a common misapplication 

 of Old World names to New World forms. There are many such cases, 

 confusing to the beginner but too well established in vernacular usage to- 

 be corrected at this late date. 



This family is of rather southern distribution reaching its maximum 

 in number of both species and individuals in the southwestern United 

 States and Mexico. 



