GAME BIRDS 
Gallifonnes 
Although the sportsman includes the snip<? and other 
wading birds, various sea-fowl and the pigeons in his definition 
of "game-birds" the term is restricted by naturalists to em- 
brace the vvell-known pheasants, turkeys, partridges and qiiails 
with a host of lesser known but closely allied birds such as the 
megapodes and curassows. These form a fairly well charac- 
terized group the members of which, ignoring technical 
details, are usually defined by their small head with short, 
stout bill and strong legs and feet suitable for runnin<T and 
scratch tng. 
In tlie game-birds the number of eggs in a clutch is usually 
large, particularly in the case of the small species. If they are 
spotted or marked in any way the markings are so-called 
"surface -marks" and may be removed with comparative ease, 
a very different state of affairs to that found in, say, the Singa- 
pore sparrows whose eggs are so heavily marked that, in 
addition to the markings that appear to be on the surface of 
the egg, pale underlying spots can also be discerned. 
With the exception of the megapodes the young of which 
are hatched fully feathered and able to Hy (!; young game- 
birds are pretty little chickens entirely clothed in fluSy down 
and most wonderfully variegated in colour and pattern. They 
are able to run about within a few hours of Ifeaving the shell. 
Important as are the characters of the feet and beak and 
of the yotmg, and ot the eggs, they would not be sufficient 
to warrant the separation of the game-birds as a natural 
"Order", the Galliformcs, from other birds. Such broad 
divisions of the bird-world and the attendant arranging and 
classifying of all the known species is a matter for the 
specialist and he looks further than at the feet. beak» feathers, 
etc», although these are often very weighty accessories to the 
work of classification. 
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