S UBFA MIL V ODON 7 OPHORIN^. 



193 



KEY TO THE GENERA. 



A. Claws moderate, normal. 



a. Crest, moderate, inconspicuous. 



b. Crest very long, slender, of two feathers. 



c. Crest full, conspicuous. 



d. Crest recurved, of several feathers, en- 

 larged at extremity. 



B. Claws very long. 



BOB WHITES. 



Co linns. 

 Page 19. 



PLUMED PAR- 

 TRIDGES. 



Oreortyx. 

 Page 41. 



SCALED PAR- 

 TRIDGES. 



CalUpepla. 

 Page 49. 



HELMETED PAR- 

 TRIDGES. 



Lophor'tyx. 

 Page 55. 



MASSENA PAR- 

 TRIDGES. 



Cyrtonyx. 

 Page 69. 



GENUS COLINUS 



(Latin Colinus, synonymous with the Greek t>prv^, ortyx, a quail). 



Colinus Less. Man. d'Ornith., vol. ii., 1828, p. 190. Type 

 Tetrao virginianus, Linn. 



Body short, rounded ; feathers of crown slightly rounded and 

 erectile, but not forming a true crest. Tail about three-fifths 

 length of wing. Sexes alike, save in the color of throats and 

 superciliary stripes. 



Two species and two subspecies of this genus inhabit North 

 America north of Mexico. Closely allied in habits and appear- 

 ance three of them might easily be confounded by one not an 

 expert, but the fourth, C. ridgwayi, hardly called with propriety 

 a North American species, differs completely in the color of its 

 plumage from the others. 



