S6 
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 in to 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 white 
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 defined, and by getting confused, 
make the lowest appear mottled with the tw 7 o 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 
