98 
NATURAL HISTORY. [EAST. ZOOL. 
84—106) Lave long muscular legs,, well adapted to walk¬ 
ing, short wings, and blunt claws. They live chiefly on 
the ground, laying their eggs on the earth ; the males are 
generally polygamous. 
The family of Pigeons ( Columhidce , Cases 84—88) 
have their feet and tail formed like the perching birds, 
but the base of the upper mandible is covered with a soft, 
tumid membrane, in which the nostrils are pierced. 
The family of Curassows ( Cracidce , Cases 89 and 90) are 
peculiar to tropical America, living in the woods, building 
in the trees, and are easily tamed. They have the base 
of the beak surrounded with a soft skin, a large rounded 
tail, composed of broad rigid feathers, and their windpipe 
is very variously twisted. 
The family of Pheasants [Vliasianidce , Cases 91—103) 
have the hind toe placed higher on the tarsus than the 
front ones, so that only the tip touches the ground. Their 
bill is arched, and the nostril is covered with a vaulted, 
smooth, naked, horny scale. The tarsus is naked, and that 
of the male is generally furnished with one or more 
spurs. These birds are much sought after as food, and 
often domesticated for the purpose; they are, at the same 
time, often the most beautiful of the class. The male is 
generally the largest and finest coloured, and they are 
most usually ornamented with wattles, combs, or crests. 
The wings are generally short and rounded. 
The family of the Grouse ( Tetraonidce , Cases 104 and 
105) have many characteristics in common with the former, 
but their legs are generally more or less covered with 
feathers, as are also the horny vaulted scales over the nostrils, 
and the wings are generally long and acute. The Grouse 
are peculiar to the northern part of Europe and America. 
The Sand Grouse ( Pterocles ) which are found only in the 
warmer parts of the Old World, have much the habits of 
pigeons. 
The family of Sheath Bills ( Chionidce ) are like the 
Grouse, but they have the nostrils surrounded by. a kind 
of sheath. The Attagis has the habits of a grouse. The 
Thinocori , on the contrary, so much resemble a snipe in 
their flight and manners, that the American sportsmen 
call them short-billed snipes. The Sheath-Bill ( Chionis ), 
is often found far out at sea, but they chiefly inhabit the 
