TETRAONID.E. -383 



insects, wliicli tliey pick up among tlie dry leaves. 

 All tlie members of this group are strictly American, 

 and by far tlie greater number of them are natives 

 of that portion of the continent lying between the 

 thirtieth degree of north latitude and the equator. 

 Four species are now included in the fauna of North 

 America, and four have been discovered in Brazil. 

 Some few extend their range to the larger West- 

 India islands, and several others inhabit the vast 

 mountain-range of the Andes. They form a large 

 and well-defined family, distinguishable from the 

 Partridges and Quails of the Old World by the 

 absence of any spur or spurlike appendage on 

 the tarsi, and by the toothlike processes on the 

 upper mandible. They are pugnacious in their 

 disposition, semi-arboreal in theii' habits, and de- 

 posit their eggs in a depression of the ground, 

 or in a very inartificial nest. Their food consists 

 of seeds, berries, fruits, and the tender leaves 

 of grass, and other vegetables. Their flesh is 

 white, tender, and well-flavoured. In the morning 

 and evening twilight they perch on a low branch 

 very near each other, when the males frequently 

 give utterance to their cries, which reverberate 

 through the forest to a great distance. If alarmed 

 while on the ground, they usually hasten to a low 

 branch, along which they run, and, crouching down, 

 conceal themselves among the foliage. The nest is 

 formed on the ground, in a thicket, or beneath a log. 

 The female lays from eight to fifteen eggs. 



The type of the race is — 



The Black-throated American Partridge ((9r^?/x nigro- 

 gularis). 



