216 BILLS OF SHORT-WINGED BIRDS. 



The bill is in most of the genera rather short, arched 

 in the upper mandible, and strong and hard, at the tip. 

 Indeed the bill of the common fowl, of which it is 

 unnecessary to give either description or figure, is a 

 very good average type of what may be termed a 

 pecking bill. The two genera which have the bill 

 different are the peacock pheasant {Poli^plectron 

 chinquii) of the east of Asia, and the genus Tinamu^ 

 of South America, where they are called partridges 

 or quails. Both of these have the bill straight, and 

 longer and more slender than in the rest of the 

 order ; and in the American genus it is depressed, 

 but has the upper mandible strengthened by a keel 

 or ridge on the exterior. In their food, manner of 

 feeding, and habits generally, they do not differ much 

 from the rest of the order. 



BILLS OF THE SHORT-WINGED BIRDS. 



These have the bill very similar to the gallinidEe, 

 which might be expected from the correspondence of 

 their habits in feeding. The bustards, which, though 

 not bad fliers, form the most natural transition from 

 the one order to the other, have the bill strong, conical, 

 or little compressed, and a little arched in the upper 

 mandible. It bears a very considerable resemblance 

 to the bills of those small birds which pick seeds from 

 the stems of herbaceous plants. 



The birds which are incapable of flight have the 

 bills a little diflerent. In the ostrich it is of moderate 

 length, depressed, or flattened at the tip, having the 

 mandibles of nearly equal size, and somewhat flexible, 

 with a sort of nail at the tip of the upper one, but the 

 tips are obtuse or rounded. It bears a slight resem- 

 blance to the bills of geese. This is the first indica- 

 tion of a grazing bill which occurs in the class, viewed 



