PHASIANIDA, — CL. 253 
barred and streaked. L.17. W.9. T.44. @ smaller. Prairies, 
etc., Indiana to La. and N.; nearly exterminated eastward. 
aa, Scapulars with large, conspicuous spots of buffy whitish; neck tufts in ¢ 
of not more than 10 lanceolate feathers. 
795. T.cupido (L.). Heata Hen. Rather smaller. W. 84. 
E. U. S., once from Mass. to Va., now extinct except on Martha’s 
Vineyard. (To Cupid, the ruff on the neck likened to Cupid’s 
wings.) 
409, PEDIGICETES Baird. (ediov, plain; ofxyrns, inhabitant.) 
796. P. phasianellus (L.). SHarp-TAILED GrousE. Streaked 
and spotted, yellowish brown, black, and white; sexes alike. L. 18. 
W. 83. T.5. Arctic Amer., 8. to N. Ill.; the S. E. form with 
rusty grayish predominating, is var. campestris Ridgway. (Lat. 
phasianus, pheasant.) 
Famity CL. PHASIANIDAN. (Tue Pueasanrs.) 
The chief family of the Galline, differing as a whole from the 
Tetraonide@ in having the tarsus in the # armed with a spur. In 
many species the head is naked, in others the tail is long and 
vaulted, or otherwise peculiar. Genera 18; species 90; nearly all 
of the Old World, some of them among the most remarkable of 
birds in form and coloration. ‘The two species of Meleagrine are 
American. 
a. Head and neck unfeathered, with scattered hairs, and with caruncles ; 
forehead with a fleshy process; tail long, broad, truncate ; plumage 
metallic ; breast in ¢ with a tuft of bristles. (Meleagrine.) 
ME tEAer!s, 410, 
410. MELEAGRIS Linnaeus. (pedeaypis, guinea-hen.) 
797, M. gallopavo L. Witp Turxery.! Glossy, coppery 
black. L. 48. W. 21. T. 18%. 9 smaller, duller. Ontario to 
Rocky Mountains, S. to Mexico, becoming extinct eastward. The 
domestic Turkey is descended from a Mexican variety (var. 
mexicana Gould). (Lat., gallus, cock ; pavo, pea-fowl.) 
Orver XL. COLUMB4E. (Tue Doves.) 
Bill straight, compressed, the horny tip separated by a constric- 
tion from the soft part. Nostrils opening beneath a soft, tumid 
membrane or cere, at base of bill. Frontal feathers sweeping in 
a strongly convex outline across base of upper mandible; tomie 
meeting. Hind toe on a level with the rest (except in Starnenas, 
1 The account of the habits of the Turkey given by Linneus is worth quoting : 
‘*Mas exestuat inflato pectore, expansa cauda, sanguinea facie, relaxata frontis 
earuncuila; ire tenax; sapida caro.” 
