214 CASSELLS BOOK OF lilRDS. 



congeners, this species has but one mate, and Hves on excellent terms with its companions, as several 

 pairs and their young usually keep togetiier, forming small parties. In spite of this usually peaceful 

 mode of life, the males, like the rest of their kind, occasionally indulge in regular pitched battles. 

 Their cry is very similar to that of the Partridge ; about April or May the niales become much 

 excited, and may be heard calling almost incessantly during the evening hours. A nest found by 

 Brehm in a thick, dark bush near the ground, was formed of leaves and feathers, and contained within 

 its deep walls, six pure white eggs, closely resembling those of a Domestic Fowl. "My attention," 

 he tells us, " was attracted to the nest in the first instance by the movements of the hen, who ran 

 out of the bush at my approach, and placing herself in an open space near me, spread and beat her 

 wings, and by her cries endeavoured to lure me from the spot. I carefully marked the bush that 

 contained the brood and at once pretended to follow the anxious mother, who, after leading me some 

 five hundred paces, suddenly rose and flew back to her home in a series of large curves quite after 

 the manner of the rest of her congeners. The cock was not to be seen, but no doubt was in 

 the immediate vicinity." The flesh of this species is much esteemed, and large numbers are snared 

 for the table. In many European houses it is to be seen caged, yet, though it endures captivity 

 well, it never becomes really tame. 



The AMERICAN PARTRIDGES {Odontophori) are delicately-framed birds, possessing a short 

 high beak, compressed at its sides, high, much arched, and furnished at its margin with two strong, 

 tooth-like projections. The moderately long tail is composed of twelve feathers, the external of which 

 are frequently much shortened ; the fourth, fifth, and sixth quills of the very decidedly-rounded wings 

 exceed the rest in length ; the tarsi are high, without a spur, but the toes are long and furnished 

 with long, sharp claws. The thick plumage is more or less brilliantly coloured and always beautifully 

 marked ; some species have a bare patch around the eye. All the members of this group are strictly 

 American, and by far the greater number of them are natives of that portion of the continent lying 

 between 30° north latitude and the equator. Four species are now included in the fauna of North 

 America, and four have been discovered in Brazil ; some few extend their range to the larger of the 

 West Indian Islands, and several others inhabit the vast mountain ranges of the Andes. 



The American Partridges form a large and well-defined group, distinguishable from the Partridges 

 and Quails of the Old World by the absence of any spur, or spur-like appendage on the tarsi, and by 

 the tooth-like processes in the upper mandible. They are pugnacious in their disposition, seem 

 arboreal in their habits, and deposit their eggs in a depression of the ground or in a very inartificial 

 nest. Their food consists of seeds, berries, fruits, and the tender leaves of grass and other 

 vegetables. Their flesh is white, tender, and well flavoured. In the morning and evening twilight 

 they perch on a low branch near each other, when the males frequently give utterance to their cries, 

 which reverberate through the forest to a great distance. If alarmed when on the ground, they 

 usually hasten to some neighbouring branch, along which they run, and crouching down conceal 

 themselves amongst the foliage. 



The female lays from eight to fifteen eggs. 



THE CAPUEIRA PARTRIDGE. 

 The Capueira Partridge {Odontophorus dentatus), the largest species of the entire family, 

 represents a group of powerfully-built birds, with comparatively long necks and moderate-sized heads, 

 their short tail, rounded at its extremity, is formed of soft feathers ; the short, decidedly-rounded wing 

 has its fifth and sixth quills longer than the rest ; the strong, hooked beak is compressed at its sides, 

 and has the high upper mandible much vaulted ; the margins of the lower mandible are furnished 



