The members of this Family, which range in size from the {202}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 {203}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