[ >8 ] 
ORDER III. 
GALLINACEOUS. 
Heavy bodies, fhort wings, very convex ; ftrong, arched, fhort 
bills : The upper mandible (hutting over the edges of the 
lower. The flefli delicate, and of excellent nutriment j ftrong 
legs; toes joined at the bafe, as far as the firft joint, by a ftrong 
membrane. Claws broad, formed for fcratching up the ground. 
More than twelve feathers in the tail. 
Granivorous, feminivorous, infedtivorous, fwift runners, of fhort 
flight ; often polygamous, very prolific, lay their eggs on the 
bare ground. Sonorous, querulous, and pugnacious. 
Or, with bills (lightly convex ; granivorous, feminivorous, infec- 
tivorous; long, legs, naked above the knees: The genus that 
connects the land and the water-fowl. Agreeing with the 
cloven-footed water-fowl in the length and nakednefs of the 
legs, and the fewnefs of its eggs : Difagreeing in place, food* 
and form of bill, and number of feathers in the tail. 
