Passing mention should be made of the economical importance of this Family as a factor in our food-supply, whether in the wild state as game, or in the domesticated as poultry; for almost inconceivable numbers of birds are bred, exported, or used for eating in their native countries, while the value of domestic fowls' eggs can best be estimated by imagining the consequence of a failure in the production. Man's custom herein is no doubt guided by the ease with which most of the species are secured or reared, and by the great development of the pectoral muscles or "flesh of the breast."
The body is decidedly heavy, the head usually rather small, and the neck fairly long. The bill is comparatively short and stout–especially in Ithagenes, Dendrortyx, and elsewhere–but may be more elongated, as in Lophophorus and Euplocamus; the maxilla being curved, and overhanging the mandible, which exhibits two serrations on each side in the Odontophorinae. The metatarsus is strong and relatively short in Grouse and many Partridges, but in Pheasants and similar forms it is much longer; the feathering descends to the toes in the Tetraoninae, except Bonasa and Tetrastes, the digits themselves being clothed in Lagopus, naked and pectinate at the sides in the remaining genera. No other members of the Family shew pectinations or have the metatarsus feathered, save Lerwa, where it is half covered. The hallux, invariably elevated, has only a rudimentary claw in Rollulus, Melanoperdix, and Caloperdix; Arboricola, Dactylortyx, and Cyrtonyx, on the contrary, have particularly long and somewhat straight claws. Spurs are of frequent occurrence on the feet of the males, though rare in the females, some species possessing as many as three pairs; they are never found in the Tetraoninae or Odontophorinae, and are represented by mere knobs in Acryllium (Numidinae). The wings are short and rounded, with ten primaries and from twelve to nineteen secondaries, both decreasing in length as they near the middle of the wing, which has thus a bilobed appearance when expanded. The primaries usually increase in length before decreasing, but in some cases the exterior quill is the longest, while in Falcipennis two or three of the outer feathers are sickle-shaped, and in Argus the secondaries are enormously developed. The tail is extremely variable, being long and rounded in Lophophorus; long and sharp-pointed in Phasianus and Centrocercus; moderate, broad, and rounded in Lagopus, Odontophorus, and so forth; similar but more truncated in Meleagris; short in most Partridges; and exceptionally abbreviated in many Quails. The coverts far exceed the tail in the Peacock, forming its splendid train, while they are much elongated in Chrysolophus, and to some extent in Coturnix, Excalphatoria, and Ceriornis (Tragopan). In Pedioecetes the two middle rectrices surpass the rest and terminate abruptly; in Lyrurus the exterior feathers fork outwards; in Crossoptilon and Gennaeus the median plumes curve over the others; and in Lobiophasis not only is this the case, but the rhachis extends beyond the webs, which are much reduced on the outer side of the lateral quills; in Argusianus and Rheinardtius the middle pair is extraordinarily lengthened. The whole tail is compressed or "vaulted" to a greater or less degree in Gallus, Chrysolophus, Lophura, Acomus, Gennaeus and Crossoptilon. Excalphatoria is remarkable for possessing only eight rectrices; ten are found in Microperdix, and occasionally in Synoecus and Coturnix; but the usual number is from twelve to twenty-four, while Lobiophasis has thirty-two in the male and twenty-eight in the female. The nostrils are concealed by the feathering in the Tetraoninae alone, the aftershaft is large except in Pavo, the furcula is Y-shaped, the tongue sagittate, the syrinx tracheo-bronchial. The globular crop and muscular gizzard are decidedly characteristic, yet Argusianus has been said to lack the former, and Centrocercus the latter. In the male of Tetrao urogallus and both sexes of Guttera the trachea has a loop, which in the latter case passes through a cavity in the head of the furcula.
The plumage is of the most varied description, the winter coat of Lagopus being commonly white, the males of Lyrurus, Tetrao, and Melanoperdix nearly black, while the prevailing colours in Chrysolophus pictus are orange and red, in Gennaeus nycthemerus black and white, in Rollulus dull green and maroon, in Gallus orange, red, purple, green, black, and white, in Phasianus metallic green, orange, and brown. In the Numidinae white or bluish spots mark the blackish ground-colour; in the American Grouse black, brown, yellowish-buff and white occur in varying proportions; while the Partridges and Quails exhibit, as a rule, still more sober tints of brown, relieved by dull red or buff. Peacocks, again, show a combination of beautiful metallic blues and greens with copper and buff, rarely found elsewhere in the Family; nor must Lophophorus, Lophura, Lobiophasis, and Ceriornis be left out of consideration. The ocelli or "eyes" on the Peacock's train hardly require mention; Polyplectron has similar adornments on both the tail and the upper parts in the male, on the tail alone in the female; Argusianus on the secondaries and rectrices in the male, Meleagris ocellata on the latter in both sexes. The feathers of the crown are curled in Crossoptilon, Pavo, and Lophophorus sclateri, and fine crests are by no means uncommon; the component plumes being more or less racquet-shaped in Lophura and Lophortyx, and in Pavo cristatus consisting of webs at the end of bare shafts. The crests of Chrysolophus and Gennaeus are recumbent, those of Rollulus and Rheinardtius upright; while, among others, the full head-tufts of Ithagenes and most species of Lophophorus, with the comparatively short ornaments of Haematortyx, Ceriornis, and Callipepla are worth notice. Crossoptilon, Pucrasia, and Phasianus have elongated ear-coverts or feathers behind the ear, the white plumes of the first-named being especially remarkable and common to both sexes; an erectile cape surmounts the nape in Chrysolophus; Meleagris has a peculiar patch of long bristles on the breast, Bonasa a ruff on the sides of the neck; Gallus and Acryllium have hackles or lanceolate feathers in various parts, moulted–in the former at least–during the summer. All these decorations are absent or less pronounced in the females, which are, as a rule, dull in colour.
The head is entirely naked in Meleagris, and is covered with caruncles, an erectile process hanging from the forehead; a pair of long fleshy horns above the eyes distinguish Ceriornis, which has in addition a large wattle on the throat; a comb of similar substance is accompanied by a single median or two pairs of lateral wattles in Gallus; while the sides of the face, the orbits, or the fore-neck, are bare in many genera. The male of Lobiophasis has the head nearly naked, with no less than three pairs of wattles; though the female has but one rudimentary pair of the latter, and only the cheeks unfeathered. In all these cases the skin and outgrowths are red or blue. The head and neck are bare in the Numidinae, except for a crest in Guttera, a crescentic nuchal band of feathers in Acryllium, and a line of plumage down the crown in Phasidus; wattles occur at the angles of the gape in Guttera and Numida, both these and the naked skin being blue and red throughout the Sub-family, save in Phasidus, where the latter is yellow, and in Agelastes, where it is red and white. The bony casque of Numida is red or horn-coloured. The Tetraoninae have merely a little red or yellow skin over the eye. In females all the fleshy outgrowths are much smaller or absent, throughout the Family.
Air-sacs of orange skin lie below the side-feathers of the neck in the males of Centrocercus, Dendragapus, and Tympanuchus, and become visible when inflated; they are supposed to produce the booming ventriloquistic sound, uttered in the breeding season. Bonasa has a naked space in a similar position, but its drumming is stated to be caused by the wings. Pedioecetes can hardly be said to have air-sacs, yet it also drums, while the exact nature of the corresponding sounds made by Tetrao urogallus and Lyrurus tetrix is uncertain. The "gobble" of the domestic Turkey is a parallel instance, in so far as it is uttered during excitement.
The members of this Family, which range in size from the splendid Capercaillie (T. urogallus) to the small Quail-like Excalphatoria sinensis, are all weighty birds for their bulk, rising heavily and noisily, and travelling with low and steady, though often laboured, flight; in many cases the pace is extremely rapid, but comparatively short distances are covered before alighting. On the whole, they are certainly partial to dry localities, which may, however, be prairies and heaths, as in many Grouse, wooded or open country generally, as in Pheasants, or stony hill-sides, as in Tetraogallus, Ammoperdix, and some species of Lagopus and Caccabis; yet a few seem to prefer the vicinity of marshes, and others are constantly met with at considerable elevations. The great facility with which game-birds run, their frequent custom of lying until they are almost trodden upon, and that of combining into coveys or packs consisting of two or more broods, are too well-known to need lengthy description here. The strutting and parading of the cocks of the larger species is fully noticed below, while the habit common to most forms of dusting themselves, instead of washing, is also noticeable. Many are almost entirely terrestrial, a love for trees being in fact exceptional; nevertheless, instances might easily be adduced of roosting on branches or taking refuge there when disturbed, and though Lagopus, Francolinus, and Perdix are notoriously averse to perching, the writer himself has seen five or six Red Grouse sitting on low trees, within half an hour. Tetrao, Lyrurus, Phasianus, Pavo, and Meleagris well exemplify the polygamous habits not unfrequent in the Family, the males in such cases usually deserting their mates during incubation; Coturnix and Ortyx, moreover, are stated to be not invariably monogamous. The nest is nearly always on or close to the ground, and is formed of a few twigs, grass, moss, feathers, and leaves; the hole, usually scraped as a commencement, being sometimes barely lined. Polyplectron, as a rule, deposits two eggs, but the number in most species is much greater, from sixteen to twenty being not uncommonly found, or even more where two hens lay together–a fairly ordinary practice in the group. The colour in Grouse is yellowish or reddish, either with rufous spots or close blotches of black, purple, or orange-brown; in the Pheasant and Partridge it is uniform olive, and in the Odontophorinae pure white, with or without brown or red markings. Further information is given below. Few Galline birds, besides the American Partridges, breed twice in a season. The male has been observed to incubate in Ortyx, and in this genus and Odontophorus domed nests are on record, while many species lay their eggs in depressions under over-arching tufts of heather or grass. Incubation lasts from eighteen to twenty-eight days, the young running almost from the shell. The note is shrill in Guinea-fowls, Partridges, and Quails, somewhat whistling in Polyplectron and Tetrastes, and generally consists of two or more syllables; but in view of subsequent details, it is sufficient to particularize the "cok-cok-cok" of the Grouse, the crow of the Pheasant and the Cock, the cluck and cackle of the Hen, the scream of the Peacock, and the gobble of the Turkey. The food is chiefly vegetable, and includes shoots, buds, leaves, grass, bulbs, seeds, berries and other fruits, with a certain amount of grit; but worms, molluscs, ants and their cocoons, insects and their larvae, swell the list. Juniper twigs or berries are supposed to give a flavour to the Hazel Grouse, pine tips to the Capercaillie, whereas the "Sage-brush" of America (Artemisia tridentata) bestows its name upon the Sage-cock (Centrocercus), and makes its flesh bitter and unpleasant. The Pheasant scratches in the ground for provender, as do Turkeys and Fowls, while Lophophorus, Catreus, Crossoptilon, Gennaeus, Pavo, and so forth, dig for roots with the bill. American Grouse, after eating Kalmia shoots, are actually poisonous.
Pugnacious habits are prevalent in the Family, and naturally attain their height in the courting season; but chief of all in this connection is the genus Gallus, which will fight at any time of year, being highly valued by the boatmen of Burma for the sport it provides. These wanderers commonly keep a cock tied by the leg in their vessels, or possess a decoy-bird to attract its wild relatives. Game-birds are easily naturalized or domesticated owing to their terrestrial habits; they hybridize readily even in a state of nature, the offspring being often fertile; such species, moreover, as the Pheasant, Partridge, and Red-legged Partridge will frequently use a nest in common. Occasionally the female assumes a plumage like that of the male; for example, in the Pheasant, where such individuals are called "Mules," and are stated to be barren. Further questions of great interest are the moult, the Grouse disease, the shedding of the claws in the Ptarmigan, and of the horny fringes of the toes in the Tetraoninae generally, besides such points as the loss of the Peacock's train in summer, and the innumerable phases of plumage of the Red Grouse, Ptarmigan, and "Bob-white" (Ortyx), none of which can be usefully discussed in a limited space.
The range of the Family is nearly cosmopolitan; but the Meleagrinae only occur in the United States and Central America; the Numidinae in Africa, with Madagascar and the neighbouring islands; and the Phasianinae in the Palaearctic and Indian Regions as far eastward as the Philippines, China and Japan, and–in the case of Gallus–Celebes. The Perdicinae are found in the Palaearctic, Indian and Australian Regions, though becoming decidedly scarce in Oceania; the Odontophorinae occupy temperate and tropical America to Bolivia and Brazil southwards; while the Tetraoninae are holarctic, the New World genera being more numerous than those of the Old World, and Lagopus alone being common to both hemispheres.
Sub-fam. 1. Numidinae.–Of the curious-looking Guinea-fowls, or Pintados, Acryllium vulturinum of East Africa has a long, wedge-shaped tail, and elongated hackles on the mantle, chest, and lower neck; the upper neck and head being naked and blue, with a crescentic nuchal band of short chestnut feathers, and each metatarsus possessing four or five knobs in the male. The hackles are black and white, mostly fringed with blue; the remaining upper parts and the flanks are black spotted with white, having a purple wash on the latter; the breast and belly are cobalt, marked with black centrally. Guttera contains four black species with light blue spots, which show much white on the secondaries. A full and usually curly black crest adorns the crown; the bare head and neck, with its posterior flap of skin, is blue or purplish, and the throat is red, except in G. pucherani of East Equatorial Africa, where the hind-neck only is blue, and G. eduardi (verreauxi) of South Africa, with no bright colours on the head, neck, or throat. The latter, and G. cristata of northern West Africa, have rudimentary blue wattles at the gape, coupled with a black collar, which in G. eduardi extends to the breast and assumes a chestnut shade. G. plumifera, ranging from Cape Lopez to Loango, has larger wattles and a thin erect crest; G. pucherani has the outgrowths red. This genus and the next have no spurs. Numida, remarkable for the bony casque surmounting the naked head and neck, possesses seven or more members of clumsy build, with white spots on the black plumage. N. meleagris of West Africa and several of its islands, introduced in Ascension and the Greater Antilles, which is the origin of our present domestic stock, has the broad gape-wattles and bare tracts red, save for a blue hind-neck; the small conical helmet is yellowish, and a wide grey ring divides the neck from the body. N. coronata of eastern South Africa, N. reichenowi of East Africa, N. cornuta of western South Africa, N. marungensis, found from Benguela to Tanganyika, N. mitrata of East Africa, Madagascar, and the islands in the vicinity, and N. ptilorhyncha of North-East Africa, lack the collar and differ from each other in the shape of the large helmet, which may be upright or inclined backwards. N. ptilorhyncha has the naked parts blue, and a bunch of horn-coloured bristles at the base of the maxilla; N. coronata, N. mitrata, and N. reichenowi have a reddish casque, a scarlet top to the head, and blue cheeks and neck; the wattles being red in the last, but blue tipped with red in the first two, as in N. cornuta, where the helmet is vermilion. N. marungensis has a stouter, shorter helmet than N. coronata, which it much resembles. Agelastes meleagrides of West Africa is black vermiculated with whitish, and has a zone of white feathers at the base of the neck; the bare skin of the head is red, of the neck white. The male has a strong spur on each metatarsus, as has Phasidus niger, ranging from Cape Lopez to Loango, which is brownish-black with a band of feathers from the base of the bill to the occiput; the naked head is in this case yellow, becoming orange on the neck.
As regards habits, Numida meleagris may represent the group. This wild suspicious bird is found in flocks of a dozen or even a hundred, not invariably of its own species, which frequent thick bushes, tall grass, or rocky river-sides; it runs swiftly and with perfect ease, occasionally travelling twenty miles a day; while, though the short wings and heavy body preclude extended flights, it travels with considerable power. When disturbed it usually seeks the trees, in which it roosts at night, and under which it shelters from the sun. The food consists of grass, seeds, roots, bulbs, berries, and insects, the ground being often torn up in the search; the noisy cry is hoarse and discordant, or sharp and metallic; the nest is a depression with little or no lining, placed in or under a tussock, and contains from twelve to twenty yellowish eggs with undecided rusty spotting. Phasidus is not gregarious. The rock-loving Numida ptilorhyncha attains an altitude of nine thousand feet.