Class 0. Aves. Order 4. Rasores. 455 



Order 4. RaSOreS [Gallinaceous birds). 



Beak short, sligMly curved at tlie tip; pedes gradarii, strong 

 feet with small hind toe, which is articulated at a higher level 

 than the rest of the toes, and has a slightly curved, short com- 

 pressed claw; occasionally the hind toe is large. The wings are 

 usually short, rounded, curved. The Easores are, as a rule, of 

 medium size, they are not very good fliers and generally remain 

 on the ground; they are mostly omnivorous, scraping up seeds, 

 larvae, worms, etc., with their claws. Not a few are polygamous, 

 when the males are usually larger and more gorgeously coloured 

 than the females. The eggs are, as a rule, laid on the ground and 

 brooded by the hens ; the newly-hatched chicks are stronger than 

 those of most other birds, and are able to run about immediately. 



1. , Tetraonomorphx. Tlie nares and the base of the heak covered with thick 

 feathers. Metatarsus more or less feathered, without a spur. Here belong : the 

 Oapercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) occurring in Scotland; and the Black 

 Grouse {T. tetrix) ; magnificent birds, the former the larger: in both cases 

 the metatarsus is completely feathered, the toes naked ; polygamous ; the cocks 

 much larger than the hens ; the latter brown, the foi-mer blackish. In the genus 

 Lagopus, the whole foot is feathered; they are brown in summer, usually 

 white in winter ; the European species live only in cold regions, the Alps and 

 elsewhere; two species are met with in Scotland, the Bed grouse {L. scoticus), 

 which is brown all the year round, and the Ptarmigan (L. muius), the 

 former occurring also in the Orkney Isles. The Sand Grouse {Syrrhaptes 

 paradoxus) is characterised by long wings and short feathered feet, from which 

 the hind toe is wanting, the fore toes being fused; it is indigenous to the 

 Steppes of Western Asia, but in recent years has several times wandered in 

 large flocks into Europe, and has even been known to breed in Scotland. 



2. Phasianomorphse. The naris naked, covered with a small arched scale. 

 Metatarsus of the male usually furnished with a spur (occasionaUy with two), 

 which is laidimentary in the female. 



(a) The Pheasant Family {Phasianidse) . Tail feathers sloped from 

 a median plane Uke a roof : naked outgrowths usually present on the head : 

 spur present : sexual dimorphism weU marked : South Asia. The Domestic 

 Fowl ifiallus domesticus), with a naked comb on its head; cock with long 

 curved tail coverts; descended from Jungle-fowl ((?. bartkiva). Further, 

 the Pheasant (Phasianus), of which one species (Ph. colchiciis) occui-s 

 in many places in England in a half wild condition ; distinguished by their 

 long pointed tail (the rectrioes themselves are lengthened). 



(6) The Peacock Family (Pavonidse). Tail flattened and faMy long ; 

 spui- present. The Peacock (Pavo cristatus), vrith a tuft of feathers on the 

 head ; male vrith extraordinarily long tail feathers, which can be spread out : 

 East Indies. The Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), head and neck naked, in 

 the male a soft process of skin depends from the dorsal side of the head at 

 the base of the beak : North America. 



(c) The Partridge Family [Perdicidx). Tail flattened, short; sp\u- 

 often absent. In England there occur, the common Partridge {Perdix 

 cinerea) and the common Quail {Coturnix communis), of which the latter 

 is a Bird of Passage and polygamous ; both have a naked patch of skin behind 

 the eye; the spui-s absent; male and female fairly similar. The Guinea- 



