750 S YSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS. — GALLINuE — ALECTOROPODES. 



named are the links between Phasianin/s and Perdicinee; for Galloperdix and Bambusicola 

 lean toward the former, while Ptilopachys and especially Ophrysia connect them directly 

 with such undoubted quail-forms as Excalf actor ia, Syncecus, and Coturnix. Ogilvie-Grant 

 has pointed out a character wliich almost unexceptioually separates Perdicidce from Phasi- 

 anid(e. Tiiis is, that in the former the 1st primary is longer than, or at least equal to, the 

 10th, while in the latter it is much shorter — or if longer (as it is in Phasianus) the tail 

 is much longer than the wing in phasianine birds, it being always shorter than the wing in 

 p(!rdicine birds. Waiving the four exceptional genera named, the following characters apply 

 to the Perdicidce: 



Tarsi, toes, and nasal fossse bare of feathers, at least in part, as a rule entirely. Sides 

 of head usually feathered. Tail short, always shorter than the wings, usually much shorter ; 

 first primary longer than, or at least equal to, the 10th (or if decidedly shorter, then the tail 

 much shorter than the wing). Spurs, combs, and wattles as a rule wanting (the reverse of the 

 rule in Phasianidce) . Sexes in general similar, and sexual habit monogamous. 



These expressions will almost infallibly separate any perdicine bird from the Phasianidce, 

 in which the rule is: Large size, long many-feathered tail, spurs on the tarsi, head in part 

 naked and carunculate, sexual diversity, and polygamous habit. On the side of the Tetra- 

 onidce the line is much better drawn. The most ambiguous form is Lerwa nivicola of the 

 Himalayas, with half- feathered yet spurred tarsi, 14-feathered tail, and sexes similar. An- 

 other grouse-like perdicine genus is Tetraogallus, with spurred tarsi, 20-22-feathered tail, 

 a leugtli of 20 inches or more, and the sexes subsimilar ; it includes several species, as T. 

 tihetanus, T. himalayensis, T. caspius, and T. caucasicus, the latter known as the Chourtka. 

 A remarkable bird related to these is Tetraojihasis ohscurus of Tibet, about 18 inches long, 

 with spurred tarsi and 18-feathered tail. But the three genera here noted are no doubt to 

 be brought within the perdicine line, being in fact not far removed from the genus Perdix 

 itself. 



The PerdicidcE are divisible into two subfamilies mainly or solely upon geographical 

 grounds, though the American forms have a fades peculiar to themselves. The introduction 

 of the common Quail of Europe into this country brings both within our limits. 



Analysis of Stibfamilies of PerdicidoR. 



Old World forms, with no peculiarity of the under mandible Perdicinee 



New World forms, sometimes with dentate under mandible Odontophorinw 



Subfamily PERDICIN/E: Old World Partridges and Quails. 



Character as just said. Before describing our single introduced representative of this sub- 

 family, some idea of its composition may be given. The genera above named lead directly to 

 Perdix, type and name-giving genus of this group, in which the tail has 16 or 18 feathers and 

 the tarsi are not spurred. It includes the common gray Partridge of Europe, etc., P. perdix or 

 P. cinerea, and a few others, a glance at any of which would suffice to show how very different 

 they are from any of the birds called " partridges" in America. Then comes a series of genera 

 in which the tail is 14-feathered, the tarsi being spurred in some of them and not in others. 

 Such is Caccabis, with several species, including C rnfa, the Red-legged or Guernsey Partridge, 

 C. petrosa, the Barbary Partridge, C saxatilis, the Greek Partridge. Francolinus is the 

 largest genus, of some 40 species, chiefly African and Asiatic, some of which are spurless, while 

 others have a pair or two pairs of spurs ; the common Francolin is F. francolinus or F. vulgaris, 

 once common in southern Europe. The African genus Pternistes includes several francolin- 

 like species, but with bare throats, as P. nudicollis. A large Asiatic genus is Arhoricola, of 

 17 species, as A. torqueola, the Olive Partridge. Nearly related to these is Caloperdix, like all 

 the foregoing with a 14-feathered tail, but tlie claw of the hind toe rudimentary ; there are three 



