ODONTOPHORUS STELLATUS, Gould. 
Starred Partridge. 
Specific Character. 
Ocl pectore, abdomine crissoque splendide rufescenti-castaneis; pectoris plumis lateralibus gutta 
centrali alba annulo nigro angusto circumdatd stellatis. 
Male. —Naked skin before and behind the eye yellowish ; bill black; crest rather lengthened 
and full; forehead and ear-coverts clouded chestnut, the former passing into reddish 
chestnut on the crown, and gradually brightening towards the occiput; throat and neck 
both before and behind grey, all the feathers margined with rufous; scapularies and wings 
(except the primaries) beautifully marked with rich chestnut, buff and black, the black 
predominating on the scapularies, which feathers are rendered very conspicuous by having 
a whitish buff line down the centre; the tertiaries also are marked with a bold edging of 
rich buff, bounded on the inner side by a well-defined band of black, which surrounds the 
feather, while the buff occupies the upper edge only; at the tip of all the wing-coverts is 
a triangular spot of buffy white ; primaries blackish brown, marked on their outer edge 
with indistinct but regular bars of reddish brown; back and rump dull greyish buff, each 
feather minutely dotted and freckled with brown and black; tail-coverts and tail rufous 
brown and black, the markings and colour so disposed that neither predominate, being 
dispersed over each feather in alternate narrow zigzag lines, interspersed with minute dots 
and freckles; chest, abdomen and under tail-coverts rich rufous chestnut; the feathers of 
the chest with a small white mark in the centre, very nearly surrounded by a narrow irre¬ 
gular line of black, giving it a very sparkling appearance ; feet and legs in the dried spe¬ 
cimen horn-colour. 
Female. —Differs in being smaller in size and in having the white markings of the chest more 
lengthened in form and less conspicuous than in the male ; in all other respects the 
colouring of the two sexes is very similar. 
Mcde. —Total length, 10 a inches ; bill, f ; wing, 5f ; tail, 3a; tarsi, 2. 
Female. —Total length, 9^inches; bill, a; wing, 5a; tail, 2a; tarsi, 1a. 
Ortyx (Odontophorus ) stellatus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 183. 
Ortyx leucostictos, Natt. MSS. 
Odontophorus stellatus, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., Part III. p. 43. 
This species fully equals in size the 0. dentatus ; it also inhabits the same country—Brazil; but from its 
extreme rarity in our collections, it must reside in the more remote and less frequently visited districts of 
that fine country. Specimens are contained in our own national collection, and in the Imperial Museum at 
Vienna. 
In form it is very nearly allied to 0. dentatus and 0. Guianensis, but is readily distinguished from both 
of those species by the rufous tint of the breast and by the feathers of that part having a spangle of white 
near the centre of each ; it has also a fuller and rounder crest than either of those species. 
Habitat. M. Natterer states that it inhabits the borders of the River Madeira in Brazil. 
The figures are of the natural size. 
