ANNALS 



LYCEUM OF NATURAL" HISTORY 



I. — Descriptions of New Species of Birds of the Genera ORTYX 

 Stephens, Sterna Linn., and Icteria Vieillot 



By Geo. K Lawrence. Read Feb. 14, 1853. 



Ortyx Texanus. 



Texan Partridge or Quail. 



Adult Male. Front and lores white ; the feathers of the 

 crown are brownish black, bordered with pale rufous; a yel- 

 lowish-white line extends over the eye and down the side of 

 the neck ; auriculars pale rufous ; feathers of the hind part and 

 sides of the neck black, marked with rufous in their centres, 

 and with white on their margins ; upper part of the back pale 

 rufous, each feather crossed with curving bars of black ; middle 

 of the back and rump finely mottled with brownish-black, pale 

 rufous, and yellowish-ash in different shades ; upper tail coverts 

 dull rufous, brown along their shafts, and crossed with irregu- 

 lar whitish bands, they extend nearly to the end of the tail ; 

 primaries brownish-ash, with the edges of the outer webs grey- 

 ish-white; secondaries also brownish-ash, margined with very 

 pale rufous; tertiaries and scapulars mottled with brownish- 

 black, rufous, and greyish-ash, and margined with pale rufous 

 white ; smaller wing coverts ash ; the others light rufous, barred 

 with black ; tail bluish-ash, lightly mottled with greyish-white 



APRIL, 1853. 1 Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. Vol. VI. 



