AVES. 431 



Sonninii TEMM. PI. color. 75 ; Ortyx calif omius, Tetrao cdlifornius SHAW, 

 GUERIN Iconogr., Ois. PL 45, fig. 3, LESSON Cent. Zool. PL 60, &c. 



Note. Here belong genera Callipepla WAGL., Cyrtonyx GOULD and 

 Odontopkorus VIEILL. 



Cyrtonyx. Tail very short, concealed under the coverts. Claws elon- 

 gate, curved. Sp. Ortyx Massena LESSON, Illustr. de Zool. PI. 52. 



Perdix BRISS., ILLIG. Bill short or moderate, vaulted, with tip 

 of upper mandible often produced beyond lower. Nostrils basal, 

 partly covered above by a vaulted naked membrane. Kegion near 

 the eyes naked, papillose. Tarsi moderate or somewhat long, 

 robust, covered in front with a double row of scutes. Anterior toes 

 joined at the base by membrane. Tail mostly rounded, short, with 

 14 or 18 feathers. Wings short, with fourth quill mostly (more 

 rarely third, or second and third) longest of all. 



A. With tarsi in males tuberculate or entirely unarmed. 



Perdix BLAS. and KEYSERL. (Caccabis KAUP, GRAY, add. Starna 

 BONAR, BLAS. and KEYSERL., Perdix GRAY.) Wings with third or 

 fourth quill longest of all. Tarsi shorter than middle toe. 



Sp. Perdix rubra BRISS., Tetrao ruf us L. (in part), BUFF. PL enl. 150, LESSON 

 Ornith. PL 90, fig. 2, NAUM. Taf. 165 ; in the south of France, Italy, &c., 

 where lives also the very similar Perdix saxatilis METER, Perdix grceca 

 BRISS. Ornith. i. PL 23, fig. i, BUFF. PL enl. 231, which occur besides in 

 Switzerland and Austria. In these species the males have tubercles on 

 the tarsi, as rudiments of spurs. Such tubercles are entirely wanting in 

 some other species, to which our common partridge belongs, Perdix cinerea 

 BRISS., Tetrao Perdix L., BDFF. PI. enl. 27, NAUM. Taf. 163; the legs 

 bluish-grey, the bill brownish ; under parts of the body grey with chestnut- 

 brown spots at the sides, the wings brown, with white and black spots ; 

 this species resides on corn-lands and in the open field, makes its nest on 

 the ground, and lays from ten to twenty light brown-grey or almost grey- 

 white eggs, pointed at one end. This species is a permanent bird, and lives, 

 like the other species of this genus, in monogamy. 



B. With tarsi spurred in males. 



Ithagenes. (Ithaginis WAGL.) Bill short, compressed, curved. 

 Tarsi long, armed in males with two or three spurs. "Wings with 

 fourth, fifth, and sixth quills subequal, longest of all. Tail mode- 

 rate, rounded. 



Sp. Perdix cruenta TEMM., Phasianus cruentus HARDWICKE, TEMM. PL col. 

 332, Cuv. R. Ani., ed. ill., Ois. PL 64, fig. i; East Indies, Nepaul; 

 Perdix Hardwickii 3. E. GRAY, Francolinus nivosus DELESSERT, GUER. 

 Magas. de Zool. 1840, Ois. PL 18. 



