CALLIPEPLA ELEGANS. 
Elegant Partridge. 
Specific Character. 
Call, crista saturate fulva; gulci nigro guttata; pectore et abdomine cinereis, hoc albido 
guttato ; nucha, et pliimis scapularibus f errugineis. 
Male. —Forehead grey, with a fine line of black down the stem; crest deep buff; back of the 
head striated with black and white; throat spotted with black on a white ground, so 
numerously that the former colour predominates; mantle, chest and abdomen dark grey ; 
the feathers of the mantle with a spot of rich ferruginous red near the tip of each feather, 
and the abdomen ornamented with large spots of greyish white; centre of the flank- 
feathers rich ferruginous; back and upper tail-coverts olive-brown; wings brown; 
scapularies rich ferruginous at the extremity, and with a spot of white on either web; 
tertiaries rich ferruginous with a line of white, bounded interiorly with black on the inner 
web ; tail deep grey ; under tail-coverts brownish grey, margined with buff; bill black. 
Female. —Crest brown, crossed with zigzag markings of a darker colour; general plumage 
brown ; the under surface spotted with buffy white ; the upper surface freckled with buff, 
brown and grey; tail grey, freckled with buff and brown; wings blotched with large 
patches of blackish brown; the secondaries, tertiaries and scapularies margined with buff. 
Total length, 10 inches ; bill, a; wing , 4a; tail, 3a ; tarsi, 1a; middle toe and nail, 1a. 
Ortyx elegans, Less. Cent, de Zool., p. 189- pi. 61.—lb. Ill. de Zool., texte de pi. 52. 
- spilogaster, Vig. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part II. p. 4. 
Specimens of this elegant species arrived in England and France at nearly the satne time, and were simul¬ 
taneously described in the capitals of each country ; in the former by Mr. Vigors under the name of Ortyx 
spilogaster, and in the latter by M. Lesson as Ortyx elegans, which name having a slight advantage in 
priority of publication is necessarily the one adopted. 
M. Lesson states that we are indebted to Dr. Botta for its discovery, and that it is an inhabitant of that 
portion of Western America, the shores of which are bathed by the Pacific Ocean. 
This species, as its name implies, has many claims to our notice, and is conspicuous for the general 
elegance of its appearance, the beauty of its crest, and the delicate style of its markings. 
Specimens of both sexes formed part of the collection received from Mexico, referred to in mv account 
of Cyrtonyx Massena, and are now in the possession of the Earl of Derby. 
A fine male is also contained in the national collection at the British Museum. 
Habitat, California and Mexico. 
The Plate represents both sexes of the natural size. 
