ELLIOT'S RIO GRANDE TURKEY. 



i8i 



ently marked from the hens of all other species ot 

 Turkeys; sufficiently characteristic in my opinion to give 

 the bird specir , rank, although I retain its subspecific 

 nomenclature. 



MELEAGRIS SYLVESTR/S ELLIOT/. 



Habitat. — Lowlands of southern Texas and eastern Mexico, 

 from the Brazos River to Vera Cruz not above 2000 feet of eleva- 

 tion. Northeastern Mexico. 



Adult Male. — Head, neck, mantle, upper wing-coverts, and 

 breast resemble those of the eastern Wild Turkey, M. sylvestris; 

 back and rump, jet black, with, in certain lights, a silvery gray 

 bar near the ends of all the feathers, and a narrower one on the 

 tip, both with roseate reflections; upper tail-coverts, broadly 

 tipped with ochraceous buff (and this is the general color of the 

 lower rump and upper tail-coverts), remaining parts, chestnut, 

 irregularly crossed with black lines, succeeded by a black bar 

 with metallic copper bronze reflections; back and rump, jet 

 black; lower back, with a coppery metallic bar near the tip of the 

 feathers; tail, mottled with pale chestnut and black, a black 

 band near the end and the tip ochraceous buff; under tail- 

 coverts, black, with metallic green, bronze, and red reflections, 

 and broadly tipped with ochraceous buff. Wing, 21 inches; tail, 

 19; tarsus, 6^. 



Young Male has the feathers of the breast, under parts, flanks, 

 back, and rump conspicuously tipped with ochraceous buff. 



Adult Female. — Smaller than male, general hue, black, with 

 the metallic iridescent hues of the male present on the back, wings, 

 and under surface ; feathers of the entire upper parts have black 

 bars near the ends and grayish tips, becoming broader on the 

 lower back and rump; feathers of under surfar- tipped with pale 

 buff; upper and under tail-coverts and tail resemble those of the 

 male, and all except the under coverts have very pale ochraceous 

 buff tips. 



