GAME-BIRDS. 19 



the female being barred with rufous. The Guans (Ortalis) (63-55), of 

 which three species are shown, are very similar birds to the two former, 

 but there is a thin band of feathers down the middle of the naked 

 throat, and no wattle. The remaining three genera, Pipile (56), 

 Aburria (57), and Chamtepetes (58, 59), are remarkable in having the 

 inner web of the first two or three flight-feathers deeply excised. 



Suborder II. ALECTOROPODES. TRUE GAME-BIRDS. 



* 



This group includes the Pheasants, Partridges, and Grouse, which 

 normally nest on the ground. They are characterised by having the 

 hind toe (hallux] raised above the level of the other toes, and by 

 having the inner notch of the breast-bone (sternum) more than half 

 the length of the entire sternum. 



Family I. PHASIANID^E. PHEASANTS, PARTRIDGES, AND QUAILS. 



The large number of Game-Birds comprising this family are 

 distinguished from the Grouse by the following characters. The 

 nostrils are never hidden by feathers, and the legs are either feathered 

 partially as in the Snow-Partridges (Lerwd) (164) or wholly naked and 

 often armed with one or more pairs of spurs. The toes are always 

 devoid of feathers and never pectinate along the sides, the horny 

 comb-like appendages so characteristic of the Bare-toed Grouse being 

 invariably absent. 



This great family has been divided into the subfamilies Odonto- 

 phorinae, Phasianince, and Perdicinae, the first containing the American 

 Partridges and Quails, the second the Pheasants and Peacocks with 

 their allies the Turkeys and Guinea-Fowls, and the third the Old- 

 World Partridge-like forms. 



Subfamily I. Odontophorince. American Partridges and Quails. 



The American Partridges (Odontophorince) are distinguished by [Case 9.] 

 having the cutting-edge of the lower mandible serrated or provided 

 with a tooth-like process, well marked in the great majority of species, 

 but in some instances less distinct. 



The Scaly Partridge (Callipepla squamata) (60) is a native of the high 

 barren plateaus of Mexico and the States immediately to the north. 

 In both sexes the black edges to the feathers give the plumage a scaled 

 appearance. 



Of the Crested Quails (Eupsychortyx) eight small species are known 

 to inhabit Central America and the north-west of South America. An 

 example of this group may be seen in the White-faced Crested-Quail 

 (E. leucopogori) (82). 



