232 
PHASIANIN^. PHASIANUS. 
Bill short, strong, slightly decurved ; upper mandible 
with the dorsal line sloping at the base, arcuato-declinate 
toward the end, the sides convex, the tip rounded and 
thin -edged. Mouth rather narrow ; palate flat, with two 
curved, longitudinal, slightly papillate, soft ridges ; tongue 
of moderate size, fleshy, tapering, slightly concave above, 
horny beneath ; oesophagus narrow, but enlarged into a 
crop of great size, lying over the fore part of the neck 
and thorax ; stomach a powerful gizzard of a subrhom- 
boidal form, with very large muscles, radiated tendons, 
and dense epithelium, having two thickened, roundish, 
grinding surfaces ; intestine long, rather wide ; coeca very 
long, wider than the intestine ; rectum long, cylindrical. 
Nostrils linear-oblong. Eyes of moderate size. Legs of 
moderate length, strong; tarsus stout, a little compressed, 
anteriorly with two series of alternating scutella, poste- 
riorly also with two series, and generally a conical spur ; 
toes four, strong, the first very small and elevated, the 
anterior connected by basal webs ; claws slightly arched, 
rather blunt. Plumage various ; wings short, broad, 
rounded, curved, the third and fourth quills longest ; fea- 
thers on the rump elongated ; tail long, graduated, or 
rounded, sometimes even or emarginate, of more than 
twelve feathers. 
The Phasianinse pass gradually into the Perdicinse, 
there being no real distinction between them. Only one 
species of this family occurs in Britain, and even it is 
not indigenous. 
GENUS LXXVIII. PHASIANUS. PHEASANT. 
Bill short, strong, slightly decurved, higher than broad 
at the base, depressed at the end. The other characters as 
above. Plumage various, the feathers generally ovate or 
oblong, on the head and neck of the males splendent ; eye- 
lids bare ; a large space surrounding them, and extending 
along the whole side of the head to the biU, also bare, and 
