492 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Species. 

 C. massena. Shaft-streaks of wing-feathers yellowish-white ; sides with 

 small round white spots , medial lower parts dark maroon-chestnut. Hah. 

 Northern Mexico, and adjacent portions of the United States, from the 

 Upper Rio Grande and Colorado Valleys, south to Mazatlan. 

 C. ocellatus.^ Shaft-streaks of wing-feathers chestnut-rufous. Sides with 

 large rufous spots, medial lower parts bright rufous, lighter anteriorly. 

 Hah. Southern Mexico, and Guatemala. 



Cyrtonyx massena, Gould, 



MASSENA PARTRIDGE. 



Ortyx massena, Lesson, Cent. Zool. 1830, 189. — Finsch, Abh. Nat. 1870, 357 (Guadela- 

 jara). Cyrtonyx massena, Gould, Mon. Odoiit. 1850, 14 ; tab. vil. — M'Call, Pr. 

 A. N. Sc. V, 1851, 221. — Cassin, Illust. I, i, 1853, 21, pi. xxi. — Reighenb. Syst. 

 Av. 1850, pi. xxvii. — Baird, Birds N. A. 1858, 647. — Ib. Mex. B. II, Birds, 23. — 

 Dresser, Ibis, 1866, 29 (Bandera Co., Texas ; breeds). — Coues, P. A. N. S. 1866, 95 

 (Foit Whipple, Arizona). — Gray, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867, 74. —Coop. Orn. Cal. I, 

 1870, 558. Ortyx montezunioi, Vigors, ZooI. Jour. V, 1830, 275. Odontoxihorus mclea- 

 gris, Wagler, Isis, XXV, 1832, 279. Tetrao guttata, De la Llave, Registro Trimestre, 

 I, 1832, 145 (Cassin). 



Sp. Char. Male. Head striped with white, black, and lead-color ; chin black. Feathers 

 above streaked centrally with whitish, those on the outer surface of the wings with two 



series of rounded black spots. Central line of 

 breast and belly dark chestnut ; the abdomen, 

 tliighs, and crissum black ; the sides of breast 

 and body lead-color, with round white spots. 

 Legs blue. Length, 8.75 ; wing, 7.00 ; tail, 2.50. 

 Female. Prevailing color light vinaceous-cin- 

 namon, the upper parts barred and streaked as 

 in the male. Head without Avhite or black 

 stripes. Sides with a few narrow, irregular 

 streaks of black. 



Young. Somewhat similar to the adult female, 



but lower parts whitish, the feathers, especially 



on the breast, with transverse blackish spots on 



both webs. 



Chicle. Head dingy white, with a broad occipital elliptical patch of chestnut-brown, 



and a blackish streak behind the eye. Above rusty-brown, obscurely spotted with black ; 



a Avhite stripe on each side of the rump. Beneath almost uniform dull white. 



Hab. Chiefly on the Upper Rio Grande from the high plains of the Pecos. Fort 

 Whipple, Arizona ; Northern Mexico, southward, on the west coast, to Mazatlan. 



Habits. This Quail was first met with by Lieutenant Couch in tlie canon 

 Guyapuco, about twelve leagues south of Monterey. Though rather shy, they 

 seemed quite at home in the cultivated fields and stubbles of the ranches. 

 Mr. Clark first noticed the species among a flock of the Ortyx texana. 

 Once, on flushing a covey of the latter, a bird was seen to remain behind, and 

 showed no inclination to follow the rest. It attempted to hide in the grass, 



1 Cyrtonyx ocellatus, Gould, P. Z. S. IV, p. 78. — Ib. Monog. Odont. 



Cyrtonyx massena. 



