ODONTOPHORUS GUTTATUS, Gould. 
Guttated Partridge. 
Specific Character. 
Od. gula nigra , lined centrali alba per plumas singulas ducta ; pectore et corpore subtus spadiceo - 
fusco, spatha alba singulis plumis apicem versus guttatis. 
Male. —Crown of the head and upper feathers of the crest blackish brown; under erest-feathers 
rich deep buff; over the eye extending to the occiput a broad band of pale brown, each 
feather tipped with black; beneath the eye, the ear-coverts and sides of the neck rich 
chestnut; throat jet-black, with a line of white down the centre and assuming a triangular 
form near the tip of each feather; back reddish brown freckled with black, each feather 
with a large patch of deep brown near the tip of the inner web, and with a line of buff 
down the centre; wing-feathers alternately banded with buff and deep brown, the former 
sprinkled with black; rump pale yellowish brown, obscurely spotted with black; tail 
yellowish brown, banded with black; breast and under surface chocolate-brown, with a 
pear-shaped spot of white, more or less encircled with black near the tip of each feather ; 
bill black ; feet lead-colour. 
Female. —Differs in having the crest of a uniform brown, and in the black of the throat being 
less extensive. 
Total length, 10 inches ; bill, f; wing, 5f; tail, 3 ; tarsi, If. 
Ortyx guttata, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 79. 
Odontophorus guttatus, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., Part III. p. 43. 
Several years have now elapsed since I described this fine bird in the “ Proceedings of the Zoological 
Society” from examples then living in their menagerie, all of which being females, I was not aware until 
lately that the male is distinguished from his mate by a beautiful tuft of orange-coloured feathers at the 
occiput; in other respects the sexes are nearly alike in plumage. That this interesting species would readily 
become domesticated, is proved by the fact of an example belonging to the Earl of Derby having laid its 
eggs and reared its young in his Lordship’s magnificent aviary at Knowsley, 
The native country of the 0. guttatus is Honduras, where, according to Mr. Dyson, it inhabits the Cahoon 
palm ridges ; a specimen this gentleman had alive for some time was procured on the Reondo River, on 
the borders of Yucatan. 
The habits of those living examples that have come under my notice presented no peculiarity worth 
noting ; like the rest of the genus, they readily perched not only on the trees, but also on any ledge or 
projection of the aviary in which they were confined. They presented the same plump form as the 
Common Partridge and the Ortyx Virginianus. 
Specimens now form part of the collection at the British Museum, and of that belonging to the Zoological 
Society of London. 
Habitat. Honduras. 
The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size. 
