214. 
578. 
215. 
094 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — GALLINA) — ALECTOROPODES. 
a 
reduced or wanting; size rather less. Texas, N. M., Ariz. and southward; generally dispersed, 
but far less numerous than the top-knot quails, and apparently more southern; extends along 
the Rio Grande to about 100 miles from the coast. Eggs 10-12-16, rather elliptical than con- 
ical, 1.25 0.98, white, minutely freckled with buff. 
CYRTONYX. (Gr. xvuprés, kurtos, bent, crooked; dvv€, onux, nail, claw.) HARLEQUIN 
Quaiu. Bill very stout. Head with a full, soft, depressed occipital crest. Tail very short, 
soft, almost hidden by the coverts, scarcely or not half as long as the wings. Wing-coverts 
and inner quills highly developed, folding entirely over the primaries. Feet small; tarsus 
rather shorter than middle toe and claw ; toes short, but with remarkably developed claws. A 
very distinct genus. Plumage of head of @ curiously striped; of under parts ocellated. Sexes 
very unlike, 
C. masse’na. (To André Massena, Prince D’Essling and Marshal of France. Fig. 413.) Mas- 
SENA PARTRIDGE. 4, adult: Upper parts intimately waved with black and reddish-brown 
and tawny-brown, and marked with sharp buff or whitish shaft-lines ; on the wings the irregular 
black variegation changing to black bars and round spots, in regular paired series on each 
feather. Outer quills fuscous, their outer webs 
spotted with white or buff. Under parts crowded 
with innumerable round white spots on a dark 
ground, several pairs on each feather; the middle 
line of the breast and belly mahogany-colored, 
the flanks, vent, and crissum velvety-black. Top 
of head black in front, with slight white touches, 
changing on the crest to brown. Sides of head 
and throat fantastically striped with black and 
white; a broad black throat-patch ; another on 
the cheeks, across lores and alongside of crown ; 
a third on the ear-coverts ; a fourth bordering the 
white all around behind. Length about 9.00; 
extent 17.00; wing 4.75; tail 2.00; tarsus 1.20; 
middle toe and claw 1.60; its claw alone 0.50 
9, adult: Upper parts as in the @, but the markings of the wings less regular, more assimi 
lated with the general variegation, and the tone more fulvous. No peculiar marks on head, 
throat whitish or buff; general tone of the under parts pale purplish-cinnamon, with fine 
mottling of black and white on each feather. Young @: Resembling the hen, but the undet 
parts ochrey or whitish with black variegation. Chicks, scarcely fledged, 3-4 inches long - 
Bill reddish above, whitish below; feet dull brownish. Above, light warm brown, varied 
with black, boldly striped with white — each feather having a hammer-headed white shaft- 
line. Some inner wing-quills like the back ; others dusky with whitish shafts, broken-barred 
Fig. 413. — Massena Quail, ¢, nat. size. 
with buff, chiefly on outer webs. Below, buffy-white, with numberless spots of blackish paired 
on each feather, sharp and circular on breast, further back widening to bars. A singular 
species, very showy in full plumage, inhabiting portions ot Texas, N. M., and Ariz.; in the 
latter, W. to Fort Whipple at least. 
[Subfamily PERDICINAZ: Old World Partridges and Quail. 
It becomes necessary to introduce this group, in consequence of the naturalization of the 
imported Migratory or Messina Quail of Europe. I know of no characters to distinguish it 
from Odontophorine, and doubt that there are any. ] 
COTURNIX. (Lat. cotwrnix, a quail; from its note.) Bill smaller and much slenderer than 
that of any of the foregoing genera of Odontophorine; nasal fosse feathered, except on the 
tumid nasal scale. Wings of moderate length, little vaulted and not rounded, pointed by the 
