THE CRESTED QUAILS. 1 33 



to fly for shelter into the thick bushes. They were difficult to 

 raise without a dog, and very difficult to see when on the wing. 

 Moreover, the ground they frequented was so full of ticks and 

 " garrapatas, " as to destroy all keenness in the pursuit of them. 

 In habits this species appears to resemble the common 

 Virginian Quail {0. vi7'ginia?nis). 



This beautiful Partridge, called in Costa Rica, '' Perdiz," is 

 often found over the whole plateau in flocks of from fifteen to 

 twenty, as well in the open country in the neighbourhood of 

 thick underwood, as in the wheat-fields surrounding the 

 Heredia and Barbee. {Dr. A. von Frafifzhis.) 



VII. THE BLACK-THROATED CRESTED QUAIL. EUPSYCHORTYX 



NIGROGULARIS. 



Ortyx nigrogularis^ Gould, P. Z. S. 1842, p. 181 ; id. Monogr. 



Odontoph, pt. ii. pi. 4 (1846); G. R. Gray, Gen. B. iii. 



p. 514, pi. cxxxii. (1846). 

 Colimis nigrogiilaris segoviensis, Ridgw. P, U. S. Nat. Mus. x. p. 



593(1887). 

 Eupsychortyx nigrogiilaris^ Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 



xxii. p. 412 (1893). 



Adult Male — Crest moderately developed, brown; eyebrow- 

 stripes, chin, and throat black ; a while stripe between the angle 

 of the gape and the ear-coverts ; mantle chest?iut, most of the 

 feathers with a fairly distinct white central spot ; chest and 

 under- parts white, each feather margined with black, except the 

 sides and flanks, which are edged with chestnut. Total length, 

 8-2 inches ; wing, 4-1 ; tail, 2*3 ; tarsus, i'i5 ; middle toe and 

 claw, 1-35. 



Adult Female. — Distinguished from the female of E. sonninii 

 and the allied species by having the eyebrow-stripes and 

 throat bright buff, without any t?'ace of black markings. 



Range — Central America ; Yucatan, British Honduras, and 

 Honduras. 



