612 



ORNITHOLOG Y. 



Rasores, 



and rounded ; the tail more lengthened than in those of 

 the old continent. One species, O. California*, has the 

 head ornamented by a beautiful slender recurved crest. 

 (See Plate CCCXCVIII. fig. 7.) Several other kinds were 

 recent!}' discovered and described by the lamented Douglas, 

 the botanical traveller and collector, whose tragical fate in 

 the Sandwich Islands recently excited the sympathy of the 

 scientific world. They differ from the ordinary quails in 

 usually perching upon trees at night. The Virginian Ortyx, 

 O. borealis, has of late years been reared in several parts 

 of England, and is now almost naturalised in Sussex. It 

 is considerably larger than the common quail. 



The genus Ortygis of Illiger resembles the quails in 

 general form, but the bill is somewhat compressed. The 

 toes are so deeply divided, as scarcely to exhibit a vestige 

 of the usual intervening membrane, and the hind toe is 

 wanting. The species are of small size, and occur in In- 

 dia, Africa, and New Holland. They are of polygamous 

 habits, and dwell in barren places on the confines of de- 

 serts, seldom taking wing except when closely run. One 

 of these birds is also much used by the Malays and other 

 eastern nations for fighting with its kind. (See Plate 

 CCCXCVIII. fig. 9.) 



A bird of a very anomalous aspect and character, called 

 the heteroclyte grouse (Tetrao paradoxus of Pallas), now 

 forms the genus Syrrhaptes of Illiger. The bill is rather 

 slender and compressed, straight, but as usual somewhat 

 bent towards the tip. The tarsi are short and densely 

 clothed with feathers ; the toes are also very short and fea- 

 thered, and connected together almost to the claws. The 

 hind toe is not wanting, but seems buried in the feathers. 

 The wings and tail are very long, and are both terminated 

 by lengthened slender-pointed plumes. The only known 

 species (named S. Pallasii by M. Temminck), inhabits the 

 deserts of Tartary, near the shores of Lake Baikal. Owing 

 to the peculiar structure of its feet, it can scarcely move 

 upon the ground; but its flight is brisk and raDid, though 

 seldom long sustained. 



The last group we shall here mention contains the Tina- 

 moos — genus Tinamus, Lath., — Crypturus, Illig. (Plate 

 CCCXCVIII. fig. 8.) The bill is lengthened and slen- 

 der, slightly arched, blunt-pointed, grooved on each side, 

 the nostrils central, deepening obliquely backwards. The . 

 wings are short, the tail almost rudimentary. The pal- 

 mation at the base of the toes is very short; and the 

 hind toe, reduced almost to a little spur, does not reach 

 the ground. The bare space around the eye is very cir- 

 cumscribed. These birds abound in the Brazilian and 

 other tropical forests of America, where they run swiftly, 

 seldom fly, conceal themselves among long herbage, and 

 perch (as some say) upon the lower branches of trees. 

 They live on fruits and insects, and their flesh is much es- 

 teemed. Rather than exercise their natural powers of 

 flight, they will sometimes foolishly allow themselves to be 

 killed in great numbers with a stick. They are also hunted 

 with dogs. They build upon the ground, and their eggs 

 are remarkable among those of gallinaceous birds for their 

 brilliant tinting, some being bright blue, others of a bril- 

 liant violet colour. The different species of Tinamous ex- 

 hibit a great diversity in size, from that of a pheasant to 

 a very small quail ; and " as for their flesh," says Mr Swain- 

 son, " we have often tasted it, and consider it, both in 

 whiteness and flavour, infinitely above that of the partridge 



or pheasant We believe these birds never perch, as some Rasores. 

 suppose, but that they live entirely among herbage, prin- v ~"~v— - 

 cipally in the more open tracts of the interior." 1 



The great family of the pigeons (Columba, Linn.) 

 comes next in order in Baron Cuvier's arrangement, and 

 in that indeed of most of our systematic writers. There 

 are several circumstances, however, which make it doubt- 

 ful whether the pigeons should not form either a separate 

 order of themselves, or undergo some other change in 

 their position. As comparsd with ordinary gallinaceous 

 birds, every one will admit that they present numerous 

 and striking disparities. Their powers of flight, for ex- 

 ample, if equalled are not surpassed even by those of the 

 falcon tribe, their habits are monogamous, their haunts 

 very generally arboreal, their eggs few in number, and 

 hatched by the male as well as female, the young are at 

 first extremely helpless, and are fed for a length of time 

 from the crop of both parents, — in all these points, and 

 many more, they differ remarkably from other gallinaceous 

 birds. Professor Savi, we observe, places the pigeons in 

 his concluding tribe of Passeres ( Uccelli silvani), as a con- 

 necting link with the gallinaceous order, and for reasons 

 closely corresponding with those we have just assigned. 2 

 Mr Macgillivray has recently observed, that " the beauti- 

 ful, very extensive, and generally distributed family of 

 birds commonly known by the names of pigeons, doves, and 

 turtle-doves, appears to form an order of itself, separated by 

 well-defined limits ; but yet, as in other cases, presenting 

 modifications of form indicative of its affinity to contermin- 

 ous groups. The peculiar shape of the head and bill, more 

 than any other external feature, serves to render the dif- 

 ferent species readily cognizable as belonging to a single 

 tribe ; for, whatever may be the size, colour, or even shape, 

 of a pigeon, it cannot be mistaken. But the relations of 

 the family, it would appear, are not so readily perceived, — 

 some of our most approved systematists having associat- 

 ed them with the passerine, others with the gallinaceous 

 birds, — while a few consider them as constituting a dis- 

 tinct group. Linnaeus included them all under the single 

 genus Columba, which has merely been sectioned by M. 

 Temminck, and from which M. Vieillot has only separat- 

 ed two genera under the names of Treron and Lophyrus ; 

 while Mr Swainson and other Ornithologists have convert- 

 ed it into several generic groups, such as Vinago, includ- 

 ing the thick-billed species, Ptilonopus, Columba, Turtur, 

 Ectopistes, Peristera, and others, characterized by differ- 

 ences in the wings and tail ; and Lophyrus, formed, by 

 Vieillot, of the great crowned-pigeon. The latter seems 

 to connect this family with the Cracinae, which belong to 

 the gallinaceous order, while other groups manifest an af- 

 finity to the partridges and allied genera. The pigeons 

 vary much in form, some having the body full, others 

 slender ; while the tail is very short, moderate, or greatly 

 elongated. In all, however, the head is small, oblong, 

 compressed, with the forehead rounded; a circumstance 

 depending partly upon the form of the skull, and partly 

 upon the absence of feathers at the base of the bill. The 

 latter organ is characterized more especially by having 

 the nasal membrane bare, generally scurfy, fleshy, and 

 tumid, with the narrow longitudinal nostrils placed un- 

 der its anterior margin. It varies in size, but the upper 

 mandible has its ridge always obliterated at the base by 

 the encroachment of the nasal membranes, and its extre- 



1 Nat. Hist, and Class, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 168. 



2 " Questa tribii forma il passagio dai Silvani ai Gallinacei, giacche i Piccioni, quantunque somigliano piu ai primi che ai secundi, 

 pure han caratteri comuni agli uni ed agli altri. Somigliano i Silvani, perche avendo ali grandi e coda larga, volano facilmente, con 

 velocita, ed a grandi distanze ; sono monogami : nascono nudi, e per uu tempo assai lungo (almeno per tutte le specie nostrali) non 

 essendo capaci ne di moversi, ne di cercare il cibo, han bisogno d'esser covati, e imbeccati da' loro genitori : fanno il nido sugli al- 

 beri, o nelle buche. Somigliano poi i Gallinacei per avere un gozzo molto dilatabile, e dove gli alimenti si trattengono e provano una 

 certa preparazione alia digestione : i semi, di cui quasi esclusivamente si cibano, li inghiottono senza sbucciarli, o romperli, e final- 

 mente, come i Gallinacei, hanno lo sterno doppiamente scavato." {Ornitologia Toscana, torn. ii. p. 152.) 



