EUPSYCHORTYX CRISTATUS. 
Crested Partridge. 
Specieic Character. 
Eup. lined snperciliari nigra; gutture pallide fulvo, pectore alho guttata, guttis singulis postice 
nigra marginatis. 
Male. —Forehead, crest and throat buff; ear-coverts white; a broad black mark above and 
another below the ear-coverts; sides of the breast strongly marked with black and white ; 
mantle finely freckled with reddish brown, buff and black; centre of the back and 
scapularies blotched and freckled with chestnnt-grey and black; the feathers bordered, 
particularly the tertiaries, with buff; primaries light brown; tail grey, minutely freckled 
and barred with zigzag lines of buff and brown; chest spotted with white posteriorly, 
bounded with black, on a reddish chestnut ground ; abdomen rusty orange-red ; the lower 
part crossed with a few indistinct bars of red; flank-feathers white at the base, crossed by 
broad bars of black, tipped with huffy orange, and with a line of orange-red in the 
direction of the stem ; bill black ; irides brown • feet greyish white. 
Female. —Forehead, crown, crest and ear-coverts brown ; throat and line above the ear-coverts 
greyish white; tail strongly barred with zigzag lines of black; centre of the abdomen 
huffy white ; the remainder of the plumage very similar to that of the male, but the 
markings not so well defined, and the flanks, which are dull light buff, destitute of spots. 
Total length, 7\ inches; bill, x ; wing, 4 ; tail, 2y; tarsi, lx; middle toe and nail , lp 
Tetrao cristatus, Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 277- —Gmel. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 765. 
Perdix cristata, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 652.—Temm. Pig. et Gall., tom. iii. pp. 446 and 736. 
Goturnix Mexicana cristata, Briss. Orn., tom. i. p. 260. tab. 25. fig. 2.—Id. 8vo, tom. i. p. 72 . 
—Gerin., tom. iii. pi. 246. 
Coturnix Indica, Ray, Syn., p. 158.—Will. Orn., p. 304. 
Zonecolin, Buff. Ois., tom. ii. p. 485.—lb. Sonn. Edit., tom. vii. p. 118. 
Caille huppee du Mexique, Buff. Ph Enl., 126. fig. 1. 
Crested Quail, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. iv. p. 784.—lb. Gen. Hist., vol. viii. p. 329. 
Coturnix cristata, Bonn, et Vieill. Ency. M6th. Orn., Part I. p. 222. pi. 96. fig. 4. 
Ortyx Temminckii, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xi. p. 381. 
Ortyx cristata, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. i. Gen. Ortyx. —Less. Traite d’Orn., p. 508._ 
lb. Ill. de Zool., texte de pi. 52. 
Ortyx neoxenus, Vig. in Proc. of Comm, of Sci. of Zool. Soc., Part I. p. 3.—Aud. Syn., p. 200. 
Ib. Birds of Am., vol. iv. pi. 423. fig. 3. female.—Benn. Gard. and Menag. of Zool. Soc., 
vol. ii. p. 311. 
Perdix neoxenus, Aud. Orn. Bio., vol. v. p. 228. 
Welcome Partridge, Aud. Birds of Am., 8vo, vol. v. p. 71 • pi. 292. 
Ortyx cristatus, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., Part III. p. 44. 
It will be seen from the long list of synonyms given above that this species has been included in the works 
of nearly every writer on ornithology; yet, strange to say, in no instance has any account been given of its 
habits and manners, and I regret that although it is one of the species most commonly met with, I cannot 
myself communicate any information on those points. Numerous living examples have from time to time 
adorned our menageries, and in all prohability it might with suitable care be readily naturalized in Britain ; 
at all events if our island should prove too cold for it, there can be no doubt that it would thrive in the 
warmer countries of Europe, such as Spain, the south of France and similar localities. It is one of the 
prettiest members of the genus, and is very sprightly and animated in all its actions. 
The living examples from which Mr. Vigors took his description of Ortyx neoxenus proved on examination 
after death to be all females, and upon carefully comparing them with females of this species, received 
direct from Mexico, I have no doubt of their identity; hence I have placed his name among the synonyms 
of this bird. 
Habitat. Mexico. 
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size. 
