THE CALIFORNIAN QUAIL. 



OrTYX CALiroRMCA. SlEPII. 



The necessity of subdividing so extensive a genus as 

 the Tetrao of Linnseus, comprehending all the various 

 species of Grouse, Partridges, Francolins, Quails, and 

 Tinamous, was recognised even by the contemporaries 

 of that great naturalist. Under the generic name of 

 Perdix, Brisson separated from the group the Par- 

 tridges, Francolins, and Quails ; and later zoologists 

 have thouoht it advisable to take advantage of the 

 characters afforded by each of these tribes (characters 

 so obvious as to have been marked even in their com- 

 mon names), to form them into distinct and natural 

 genera. Another section, to which a generic rank has 

 also been assigned, has still more lately been pointed 

 out, and comprehends a group of birds peculiar to the 

 New Continent, where they appear to be the repre- 



