INTKODUCTION. 
The Order Rasores, or Scrapers, so called from the habit possessed by its members of scratching the ground for the purpose 
of procuring -their food, contains the most important species, for man, of all those included in the class Atcs. It has its repre- 
sentatives in nearly every portion of the Mmrld, and comprises some of the most gorgeonsly-plumaged birds known to Ornithologists. 
In Asia, probably the most typical groups and the greatest variety of forms occur. There the statelj^ Peacock finds its natuKil 
home, and roams about in flocks of hundreds of individuals ; while upon the mountains and in the forests many species of 
Pheasants dwell. 
Among these last, distinguished for their beauty, I may here enumerate the Argus Giganteus or Argus Pheasant, remarkable 
for the extraordinary length of the secondary feathers, covered, as is the rest of its plumage, with numerous ocellated spots or 
eyes; the Lophophorus Inpmyauus, or Monaul, whose bright metallic hues rival those of the humming-bird in their ever-changing 
beauty; the Thaumalea Picta, or Golden Pheasant, -(vith its splendid ruff of gold bordered with velvety black, its deep-red breast, 
and long, tapering tail-feathers ; while many others with equal claims for an “ honorable mention” might be named. 
The Order consists of six families: the Oracida;, or Curassows, nearest allied to the Colnmbidfc, or Pigeons, large birds, .some 
species almost rivalling the Txirkey in size, chiefly arboreal in their habits, and are inhabitants of South America ; the Megapo- 
didic, or Mound Bird.s, a very extraordinary group, peculiar to Australia and the Malayan Archipelago, noted for laying large 
eggs and depositing them beneath piles of decaying vegetable matter, where they are hatched by the heat of the accumulated 
mass ; the Phasianida;, or Pheasants ; the Tetraonidas, or Grouse and Partridges ; the Tinamidte, or Tinamous, natives of South 
America; and the Pteroclidrc, or Sand Grouse. The Chionida!, included with the above families by Gray and Bonaparte, should 
be omitted, as they arc pluvialine and not gallinaceous birds; the Chionis Alba approaching very closely in it.s osteological 
structure to Haematopns Niger. 
The Tinamous may also, on account of their struthious characters, with some degree of propriety be separated from the 
gallinaceous buds; and although the Sand Grouse resemble in certain particulars both the Grouse and Pigeons, yet thev belong 
to neither of these, and may be placed between the Grouse and Tinamous, these last leading to the Strnthionidaj. 
The families of this Order have been divided into many sub-families composed of numerous genera, and the one to which 
it is necessary for us now to turn onr attention is that of the Tetraonina;, which comprises the birds forming this Monooraph. 
Many of the species are polygamous, the hens generally vej-y prolific, gregarious in their habits, more or less capable of 
domestication; and, as they never wash, are accustomed to cleanse their feathers by rolling in the dust. 
The Grouse are confined in their geographical distribution to the northern portions of Europe, Asia, and North America, 
and are rarely found in the warmer parts of those countries; while the Lagopidm, or Ptarmigan, Avhich constitute an im- 
portant part of the family, are well called “children of the sno^v,” and inhabit the high latitudes of both continents, haviim- 
been discovered dwelling on the borders of the Arctic Sea. None of these have ever been found in Asia, although the 
lofty summits of the Himalayas would seem to be their natural abode; but their places are supplied in those regions by 
the splendid species of the geims Tetraogallus, or Snow-Partridges, which live upon the lofty heights of the mountains, 
and only in summer descend to the borders of vegetation. As yet no Ptarmigan have been discovered in Africa, where, 
upon the Mountains of the Moon, they might be supposed to exist, nor in any portion of South America, although the 
