INTRODUCTION. 
13 
generic terms are now generally adopted for two distinct sections of the group; for a third the ap¬ 
pellation of Callipepla was proposed by Wagler, and Lophortyx by Bonaparte; the former term, having 
the priority, is the one retained. Considerable diversity of opinion exists with regard to the propriety 
of giving names to these subdivisions of families, but this is a point upon which I need not here 
enter: that such divisions do really exist, will, I think, be apparent to all who will carefully examine 
this or any other large group of bii'ds; and my own observations lead me to believe, that wherever 
structural differences, however slight, are found to exist, a difference will also be found in habits and 
economy; and that the members of each of these sections will possess a character of plumage common to 
themselves, but not to the whole group. With certainly the most entire series of this tribe of birds that has 
ever been brought together, from which to draw my deductions, I may state, that the genera or subgenera 
must not be confined to three or four, but must extend to six or seven ; for the first of which I propose to 
retain Mr. Stephens’s name of 
ORTYX, 
WITH THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS 
Rostrum breve et robustum; culmine gradatim a basi descendente, tomiis acutis; mandibula inferiore rectd, et 
apicem versus denticulis duobus vel pluribus instructs,; mribus magnis, et operculo obtectis; orbitis vel plu- 
mosis, vel aliquanto denudatis; verticis plumis paulo elongatis; alee concavse, mediocriter elongate, pri- 
mariis rigidis; quarta, quint A et sexta longioribus; cav.da brevis, et e plumis duodecim integris confecta; 
tarsi, cum digitis et unguibus, modice elongati, digitis anticis membrand basali conjunctis, digito interno 
ceeteris breviore. 
Bill short and stout; culmen gradually descending from the base; tomia sharp; lower mandible straight, and 
armed near the tip with two or three dentations ; nostrils large, and covered with an operculum ; orbits either 
plumed or very slightly denuded; feathers of the crown slightly elongated; ivinys concave and moderately 
long ; primaries rigid, the fourth, fifth and sixth the longest; tail short, and composed of twelve well-developed 
feathers; tarsi spurless, and with the toes and nails moderately long; anterior toes united at the base by a 
membrane, the inner toe the shortest. 
The section is strictly a northern one; one species inhabiting the United States and extending its range 
to Mexico and Jamaica, another Cuba and probably Mexico, and the three others are, I believe, confined to 
Mexico. 
Most of the members of this group are about the size of the European Quail. They go in coveys, 
