86 



THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



" The Spotted Grous is smaller than the common Par- 

 tridge or Pheasant; being but fifteen inches in length. 

 The bill is black, seven-eighths of an inch long. The 

 general colour of the plumage is made up of black and 

 gray mingled in transverse wavy crescents, with a few of 

 grayish rufous on the neck. The small feathers covering 

 the nostrils are deep velvetly black. The feathers may 

 all be called black as to the ground colour, and blackish 

 plumbeous at the base; on the crown, upper sides of the 

 head above the eye, and the anterior portion of the neck, 

 they have each two gray bands, or small crescents, and 

 tipped with a third; these parts, owing to the gray mar- 

 gin of the feathers being very broad, appear nearly all 

 gray. These long feathers of the lower part of the neck 

 above, and between the shoulders, are more broadly and 

 deeply black, each with a reddish band, and gray only at 

 the tip; the lowest have even two reddish bands, which 

 pass gradually into grayish; a few of the lateral feathers of the 

 neck are almost pure white; all the remaining feathers of the 

 upper parts of the body have two grayish bands, besides a 

 slight tip of the same colour; some of the lowest and largest 

 having even three of these bands besides the tips. The very 

 long upper tail-coverts are well distinguished, not only by 

 their shape, but also by their colours, being black, brown, 

 thickly sprinkled on the margin with grayish rusty, and 

 a pretty well defined band of that colour towards the 

 point, then a narrow one of deep black, and are broadly 

 tipped with whitish gray, more or less pure in different 

 specimens; their shafts, also, are brownish rusty. The 

 sides of the head beneath the eyes, together with the 

 throat, are deep black, with pure white spots, the while 

 lying curiously upon the feathers, so as to form a band 

 about the middle, continued along the shaft and spreading 

 at the points; but the feathers being small on these parts, 

 the white spots are not very conspicuous. 



" The breast also is deep black; but each feather broad- 

 ly tipped with pure white, constituting the large spots by 

 which this species is so peculiarly distinguished. On the 

 flanks, the feathers are at first from their base waved with 

 black and grayish rusty crescents, but these become gra- 

 dually less pure and denned, and by getting confused, 

 make the lowest appear mottled with the two colours; all 

 are marked along the shaft with white, dilating at the tip, 

 forming on the largest a conspicuous spot. The vent is 

 for a space pure white, the tips of its downy feathers being 

 of that colour; the under tail-coverts are deep black, pure 

 for half an inch at their tip, and with a white mark along 

 the shaft beside. The wings are seven inches long, the 

 fourth primary alone being somewhat longer than the rest. 

 The upper coverts and scapularies are blackish; waved and 

 mottled with grayish rusty; the longest scapularies have a 



small terminal spot of pure white along the shaft. The 

 smaller coverts are nearly edged with grayish rusty, and 

 in very perfect specimens they are even plain; the under 

 wing-coverts are brownish dusky, edged with grayish, 

 some of the largest, as well as the long axillary feathers, 

 having white shafts, dilating into a terminal spot; the re- 

 maining inferior surface of the wing is bright silvery 

 gray: the spurous wing and the quills are plain dusky 

 brown, the secondaries being slightly tipped and edged 

 externally with paler, and those nearest the body some- 

 what mottled with grayish rusty at the point on the inner 

 vane; the primaries, with the exception of the first, are 

 slightly marked with whitish gray on their outer edge, but 

 are entirely destitute of white spots. The tail is six inches 

 long, well rounded, and composed of only sixteen feathers. 

 These are black, with a slight sprinkling of bright red- 

 dish on the outer web at base, under the coverts, which 

 disappears almost entirely with age — all are bright dark 

 rusty for half an inch at their tip, this colour itself being 

 finely edged with black. 



" The tarsus measures an inch and a half, its feathers, to- 

 gether with the femorals, are dusky gray, slightly waved 

 with dusky; the toes are dusky; the lateral scales dingy- 

 whitish, and the nails blackish. 



" The female is smaller than the male, being more than 

 an inch shorter. The general plumage is much more 

 varied, with less of black, but more of rusty. There is a 

 tinge of rufous on the feathers of the nostrils. Those of the 

 head, neck, and upper part of the back, are black, with two 

 or three bright bands of orange rusty, and tipped with two 

 gray; there is more of the gray tint on the neck, on the 

 lower part of which above the orange bands are broader; 

 all the remaining parts of the body above, including the 

 tail-coverts, are more confusedly banded and mottled with 

 duller rusty orange and gray, or a blackish ground, these 

 colours themselves being also sprinkled with a little black. 

 The sides of the head, the throat, and all the neck below, 

 are dull rusty orange, each feather varied with black; on 

 the lower portion of the breast the black bands are broad 

 and very deep, alternating equally with the orange rusty, 

 and even gradually encroaching upon the ground colour. 

 The breast is deep black, each feather, as well as those of 

 the under parts, including the under tail-coverts, are 

 broadly tipped with pure white, forming over all the in- 

 ferior surface very large and close spots, each feather hav- 

 ing besides one or two rusty orange spots, much duller 

 and paler, on the belly, and scarcely appearing when the 

 plumage lies close: the feathers of the flanks are blackish, 

 deeper at first and barred with very bright orange, then 

 much mottled with dull grayish rusty, each having a 

 triangular white spot near the tip. The wings and tail 



