574 
SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — GALLINA— ALECTOROPODES. . 
eggs are very numerous, usually laid on the ground, in a rude nest, or none. The suborder is 
cosmopolitan ; but most of its groups have a special geographical distribution.. Its great eco- 
nomic importance is perceived in all forms of domestic poultry, and principal game-birds of 
various countries; and it is unsurpassed in beauty—some of these birds offer the most 
gorgeous coloring of the class. 
| 
‘Wh | 
eater | 
Liffey: 
Fie. 394. — English Pheasant, Phasianus colchicus. (From Dixon.) 
Genetically, the Fowls 
are nearer than most 
birds to a generalized, 
old-fashioned type. They 
have relations in the cu- 
riously ostrich-like Tina-. 
mous of South America 
(Tinamide or Crypturi), 
the Hoatzin (Opisthoco- 
mus), and other antique 
relicts. Notice a quarter- 
grown Turkey with this 
idea in mind, and you will 
hardly fail to see that 
it looks like an ostrich 
in miniature. Leading 
types of existing Alec- 
toropod Galline are the 
Quail, the Grouse, the 
Guinea-fowl, the Tur- 
key, and the domestic 
Cock. The two former 
are very close to each 
other, and hardly sepa- 
rable as families; the 
three latter are nearer 
one another, and often 
placed together in a fam- 
ily. The families Tet- 
raonide, Grouse, Quail, 
and Partridges; and Me- 
leagridide, Turkeys, are 
indigenous to N. Am., 
and fully treated beyond. 
A word on the others will 
not be misplaced here. 
The Guinea-fowl, Nu- 
midid@, of which a spe- 
cies, Numida meleagris, 
is commonly seen in do- 
mestication, are an African and Madagascan type. While the foregoing families are strongly 
specialized, this one, like the turkey family, more closely approaches the true fowl, and 
both may be only subfamilies of Phasianide. ‘The bones of the pinion have a certain 
peculiarity ; the frontal generally develops a protuberance ; there are wattles, but no spurs; the 
tail is very short; the head naked. There are six or eight species of Numida, in some of 
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