Sub-Order MESITAE. Fam. I. MESITIDAE.–This consists of a single genus, _Mesites_, from Madagascar, originally referred by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire to the neighbourhood of the Pigeons, and by subsequent writers to that of the Passerine, Ardeine, or Ralline birds.[144] W. A. Forbes[145] classed it next to _Eurypyga_ and {187}_Rhinochetus_; but Dr. Gadow, as may be seen from above, places it in the Galliformes, considering it to be a connecting link between that Order, the Tinamiformes, and the Gruiformes. In this curious form the bill is long and slender; the legs are rather weak, with the uniformly scutellated metatarsus shorter than the partially bare tibia; while the toes, which are without webs, are on the same level. The keel of the sternum is short, the anterior extremity hardly reaching beyond the middle of the breast-bone, and the clavicles are quite rudimentary. The wing is rounded, and has ten primaries and six secondaries; the tail is strong and well-developed, with fourteen (or sixteen) rectrices. Mr. E. Bartlett tells us that the quills of the soft feathers of the back and rump are so delicate that the plumage curls forward immediately upon the bird's death.[146] The after-shaft is absent, the pervious nostrils are long and linear, the lores and bluish orbits are naked. No less than five pairs of powder-down patches have been ascertained to exist, of which two couples are dorsal, one adjoins the upper pectoral muscles, and two are ventral. _M. variegatus_ is cinnamon, with black and tawny markings, the lower parts being white with black spots and reddish flanks. The female is mostly rufous below. _M. unicolor_ is not distinct. Hardly anything is known of the habits, but the nest is said to be upon the ground. Sub-Order TURNICES.–This consists of the two Families, _Turnicidae_ and _Pedionomidae_, each with one genus, _Turnix_ or _Hemipodius_, and _Pedionomus_ respectively; the last-named, moreover, has but one species. _Ortyxelus meiffreni_ (p. 295), may belong here.