446 NORTH AMKUICAN BIRDS. 



dian Territory, which contained sixteen eggs, measure, one 1.65 by 1.20 

 inches, another 1.63 by 1.28, and tiie third 1.75 by 1.28 iuclies. Tliey are 

 of a rounded-oval shape, more obtuse at one end than the other, and of a 

 uniform color, which varies from a liglit clay-color to a dark tawny-brown. 

 Tlie eug-s are sometimes, but not always, minutely sprinkled witli l.)rown. 



Cupidonia cupido, \nr. pallidicinctus, Eidgway. 



THE TEXAS PRAIRIE HEN. 



Cupidonia cupido, vnr. 2iullidii:iitcliis, liiUGVVAY. 



Sp. CiHR. Similar to var. cupido, but above uearly equally barred with pale grayish- 

 ochraceous and dusky or blackish-brown. Beneath white, with faint, but .sharply defined, 

 uariow bars of pale grayish-brown. Top of head with light bars prevailing ; head-stripes 

 reddish-brown. Male (10,007, Prairies of Texas, Staked Plains? ; Capt J. Pope, U. S. A.). 

 Wing, 8.30; tail, 4.20; tarsus, 1.70; middle toe, 1.50. Female (10,005, same locality, 

 etc.). Wing, 8.20. 



Hab. Southwestern Prairies (Staked I'lains, Te.xasV^ 



In its relations with the C. cupido. this race bears a direct analogy to 

 Pcdia'.cctes columbicmus, as compared with P. jjhasiancllus, and to Oriyx texa- 

 nus, as distinguished from 0. virginianus. Tlius in a much less develop- 

 ment of tlie tarsal feathers it agrees with the southern Pcdiardrs, wliile in 

 paler, grayer colors, and smaller size, it is like the soutliwesteru Oiii/x. 



Gexus BONASA, Stephens. 



Boncisn, Stephexs, Shaw's Gen. Zool. XI, 1S19. (Type, Tctrao honasia, L.) 

 Tctrastcs, Keys. & Blas. Wirb. Europ. 1840, p. l.\iv. 



Gen. Char. Tail widening to the end, its feathers very broad, as long as the wings; 

 the feathers soft, and eighteen in number. Tarsi naked in the lower half; covered with 

 two rows of he.xagonal scales anteriorly, as in the OrtygincE. Sides of toes strongly 

 pectinated. Naked space on the side of throat covered by a tuft of broad soft feathers. 

 Portion of culmen between the nasal fos.sM about one third the total length. Top of head 

 with a soft crest. 



This genus, in its partly ualvcd tarsi, with two rows of scutella- anteriorly, 

 indicates a close approach to the American Partridges, or Quads. It lias a 

 single European representative, the B. t^i/lvcstris, Steph. 



Species and Varieties. 



B. umbellus. Rump with cordate light .spots ; sides with transverse dark 

 spots. Tail with two gray bands (one terminal), with a broad blackish zone 

 between them. Cervical tufts glossy black or dark brown, with a semi- 

 metallic steel-blue or green border. 



