. The natural history of birds . ver, the toes acting so generally two againsttwo, as in the birds which properly belong to theorder, though the exterior so readily admits of a re-versed position. They are tree birds nestling in holes ;and the one which is known in southern Africa ischiefly a vegetable feeder, feeding upon wild is a bird of beautiful plumage, bright green, withsome of the quills crimson, and an elegant crest onthe head. It has sometimes been classed with thecuckoos, apparently from the structure of the feet ; 128 GALLING. but there appear to be but slight grounds for
. The natural history of birds . ver, the toes acting so generally two againsttwo, as in the birds which properly belong to theorder, though the exterior so readily admits of a re-versed position. They are tree birds nestling in holes ;and the one which is known in southern Africa ischiefly a vegetable feeder, feeding upon wild is a bird of beautiful plumage, bright green, withsome of the quills crimson, and an elegant crest onthe head. It has sometimes been classed with thecuckoos, apparently from the structure of the feet ; 128 GALLING. but there appear to be but slight grounds for war-ranting such a conclusion. Great allowances must be made for mistakes anderrors in the classification, and even in much of thedescription, of the birds which Cuvier has broughttogether in this order. With many of them we areabundantly familiar, but there are many others whichinhabit only the depths of the tangled and almostimpenetrable forests ; and the manners of these areof course as little known as their haunts. Turkey. Cuviers fourth order, the gallinaceous or poultrybirds (:, or rather Gallixid.^, for the othergenera have of course only resemblances to the com-mon domestic cock {gallus), and are not identifiedwith it), form in many respects a natural order;because though there are great differences of appear-ance and habit, and still greater difference of climateand haunt,—some, as the ptarmigan, dwelling only onthe mountain tops in cold countries, and others, as thepeacock and the jungle fowl, dwelling only in thewooded parts of tropical climates,—yet there is ageneral character which runs through the are not birds of powerful wing ; and thoughmany of them perch in trees, few or none of them FLIGHT OF THE GALLING. 129 find their food there. They are ground birds ; andonly cull the seeds of those herbaceous plants whichthey can reach when standing, and gather such otherseeds, insects, worms, and various succulent or fari-naceous vegeta
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