FAM. XXXn. CURASSOWS 219 



appearance, and they both get their common name from the 

 fact that in form they resemble the quail. They have short, 

 broad tails, without white tips to the under feathers. 



Length, 11 ; wing, 51; tail, 4^ ; culmen, I. Cuba and accidentally on 

 the Florida Keys. 



ORDER VIII. GALLINACEOUS BIRDS (GALLING) 



The birds of this order derive their name from their charac- 

 teristic habit of scratching the ground in search of food, which 

 trait is almost exclusively confined to them. Nearly all of our 

 representatives belong to the Grouse Family. 



FAMILY XXXII. CURASSOWS (CRACID^) 



This small family (15 species) of tropical American birds is 

 represented, in southern Texas, by the following : 



1. Chachalaca (311. Ortalis vitula tnaccdlli). — A crested, 

 long-tailed, large, slender, generally olive-green-colored, ground 

 bird, with naked sides to the head, and naked stripes on the 

 chin. The tail is a bright lustrous green, and the under parts 

 are least bright and least green. The outer (under) tail 

 feathers are tipped with whitish. A peculiar bird, easily 

 domesticated, and very noisy in the breeding season, with 

 notes which are expressed in its name. 



Length, 20-24 ; wing, 8 (7^-9) ; tail, 9-11 ; tarsus, 2 ; culmen, |. 

 Mexico and Central America, north to southern Texas. 



FAMILY XXXIIL PHEASANTS, TURKEYS, ETC. (PHASIA- 



NID^) 



This family (nearly 100 species) of Old World fowl in- 

 cludes all our birds of the barnyard, except the ducks, the 

 geese, and the pigeons. They have one distinctive difference 

 from the members of the next family in that the males have 

 spurs on their legs. Our only native species is the following : 



1. Wild Turkey (310. Meledgris gallopdvo). — Avery large, 

 broad-tailed, lustrous-plumaged, game bird, with head and 



