646 
GALLINACEOUS EIRDS. 
PARTRIDGES. (Perdix. Lath.) 
In these birds the bill is entire and bare ; the upper mandible 
vaulted, and strongly curved towards the point. Nostrils basal, 
lateral, half closed by a vaulted and naked membrane. Feet naked, 
fore toes united by a membrane to the first articulation, hind toe 
less than half the length of the inner ; nails incurved, acute. Head 
wholly feathered, often with a naked space round the eye. Tail 
short, rounded, and deflected, consisting of from 12 to 18 close feath- 
ers. 
Female scarcely smaller, and differing from the male only by some 
small essential marks. Young after the first year similar with the 
adult. The moult annual. 
These birds sedentary in some countries, migrate in others, and 
are very numerous in temperate and warm climates, in every quarter 
of the world. They live in pairs, and form a conjugal union for life ; 
when the young are hatched, the male takes them under his charge, 
and by his cries warns them of any approaching danger, or calls 
them together when scattered apart ; in this manner they dwell to* 
gether as one family until the approach of spring. The Quails of the 
4th section of the genus, are polygamous, and migrate extensively. 
Most part of the whole genus live in open fields and meadows, seek- 
ing out the advantage of cultivated districts, in the vicinity of man , 
—A" Subgenus. — COLINIA. (Colins, Buff \ Ortyx. Steph.) 
The bill short, thick, higher than it is wide ; upper mandible curved 
from the base ; no naked space around the eye. The tarsus destitute 
of spur or tubercle in both sexes. The wings rounded ; with the 3d 
and 4th primaries longest. Tail of 12 feathers, longer than the 
coverts. 
These birds alight on low trees or bushes, sometimes roosting in 
them, but also dwell much on the ground, both by night and day. 
Usually monogamous, the male taking charge of and protecting the 
young, which associate with the old until the time of pairing. — • 
These are peculiar to America, where the other subgenera have no 
representatives, 
