Order X. GROUSE, PARTRIDGES, BOB-WHITES, ETC 



GALLINAE. 



Family 1. GROUSE, PARTRIDGES, ^etc. Tetraonid^. 21 

 species, 22 subspecies. 



Family 2. TURKEYS, PHEASANTS, etc. PHASTANTn;R. ] species. 

 ^ subspecies. 



Family 3. CURASSOWS and GUANS. Cracid^. 1 species- 



The members of the family Tetraonid^ are usually placed in three 

 subfamilies as follows: (1.) Perdicinsc, containing the true Quails 

 and Partridges of the Old World and with no species in America. (2.) 

 Odontophorinffi, including the Bob-whites and so-called 'Quails' and 

 'Partridges' of the New World, and with no species in the eastern 

 hemisphere. (3.) Tetraoninte, the Grouse, with representatives in 

 the northern parts of both hemispheres. All the members of the first 

 two families have the legs bars, while the Grouse have the legs, and 

 often even the toes, more or less feathered. 



The application of different names to the members of this family, in 

 various parts of the country, often make it uncertain just what species 

 is referred to under a given title. Our Bob-white, for example, is a 

 'Quail' at the north and a Partridge' at the south. As a matter of fact 

 it ia, stricLly speaking, neither a true Quail nor Partridge but a member 

 of a family restricted to America. 



Again, the Ruffed Grouse is a 'Partridge' at the north and a 

 'Pheasant' at the south, whereas in truth it is neither one nor the 

 other. So far as the application of these local names goes, it is to 

 be noted that where the Bob-white is called 'Quail' the Grouse is 

 called 'Partridge' and that where it is called 'Partridge' the Grouse is 

 known as 'Pheasant'. 



All the Tetraonidas are ground-inhabiting birds, and their plumage 

 of blended browns, buffs and grays brings them into such close har- 

 mony with their surroundings that, as a rule, we are unaware of the 

 presence of one of these birds until, with a whirring of short, stiff, 

 rounded wings it springs from the ground at our feet. It is this habit 

 of lying close,' as sportsmen term it, in connection with their excellent 

 flesh, which nmkes the members of this family the favorites o£ the 

 hunter and epicure and only the most stringent protective measures 

 will prevent their extinction as their haunts become settled. 



