QUAIL, OR PARTRIDGE. 2 2$ 



of the peninsula of Florida ; and was seen in the neighbour- 

 hood of the Great Osage village, in the interior of Louisiana. 

 They are numerous in Kentucky and Ohio. Mr Pennant 



tions, from north-west to south-east, in the beginning of October, and 

 that for a few weeks the north-western shores of the Ohio are covered 

 with partridges. 



Their general form is robust, the bill very strong, and apparently 

 fitted for a mode of feeding requiring considerable exertion, such as the 

 digging up of bulbous and tuberous roots. The head is crested in all 

 the known species, the feathers sometimes of a peculiar structure, the 

 shafts bare, and the extremity of the webs folding on each other. The 

 tail also exhibits different forms ; in the more typical species short, as 

 in the partridges, and in others becoming broad and long, as seen in the 

 Indian genus Crex, or the more extensively distributed genus Penelope. 

 Considerable additions to the number of species have been lately made. 

 Those belonging to the northern continent, and consequently coming under 

 our notice, are two, discovered by Mr Douglas, — Ortyx picta, described 

 in the last volume of the " Linnean Transactions," and 0. Douglasii, so 

 named by Mr Vigors, in honour of its discoverer, and also described 

 with the former. To these may be added the lovely 0. Californica, 

 which, previous to this expedition, and the voyage of Captain Beechey 

 to the coast of California, was held in the light of a dubious species. I 

 have added the descriptions of these new species from Mr Douglas's 

 account in the " Transactions of the Linnean Society." 



Ortyx picta. — Douglas. 



Male. — Bill, small, black ; crown of the head and breast, lead colour ; 

 crest, three linear black feathers, two inches long ; irides, bright hazel 

 red ; throat, purple red, bounded by a narrow white line, forming a 

 gorget above the breast, and extending round the eye and root of the 

 beak ; back, scapulars, and outer coverts of the wings, fuscous brown ; 

 belly, bright tawny or rusty colour, waved with black ; the points of 

 the feathers white ; quills, thirteen feathers, the fourth the longest ; 

 under coverts, light brown, mixed with a rusty colour ; tail, twelve 

 feathers, of unequal length, rounded, lead colour, but less bright than 

 the breast or crown of the head ; tarsi, one inch and a quarter long, 

 reddish; toes, webbed nearly to the first joint. 



Female. — Head and breast, light fuscous brown ; the middle of the 

 feathers, black ; crest, half an inch long ; throat, whitish or light gray ; 

 belly, light gray, waved with black, less bright than the male ; under 

 coverts of the tail, foxy red ; length, ten inches ; girth, sixteen inches ; 

 weight, about twelve ounces ; flesh, brown, well-flavoured. 



From October until March, these birds congregate in vast flocks, and 

 seem to live in a state of almost perpetual warfare ; dreadful conflicts 



VOL. II. Y 



