ORTY X PLUMIFERA, Gow.

rt. capite, nuchd, pectoreque intense cinereis - : is : Ts .
O pte, cy i niense cimereis ; plumis duabus gracilibus et subpendentibus e vertice nigris ;
castaned ad latera lined alba circumdatd, ufra oculos notéd nigra ; loro sordide albo :
. . a . . . ° é ‘ 2 2
rectricibus caude fuscis nigro irroratis ;

guld intensé
ee corpore superiore olivaceo-fusco ;
; es ale primariis brunneis, pogonits externis, pallidioribus ; abdominis lateribus
miense castanes ; supra lined albd marginatis ; infra fasciis nigris atque albis ornatis ;
castaneis ; rostro nigro ; pedibus pallidi-brunnescentibus. |

Long. tot. 93 unc.; rostri, 2; ale O73 caude, 31; tarsi, 18.

abdomine medio crissoque

Crown of the head, back of the neck, and chest deep ash grey ; a plume consisting of two long slender arched
feathers rising from the vertex of the head, black ; throat deep chestnut, bounded on the sides by a line of
white, and immediately under the eye by a small patch of black ; space between the bill and the eye dirty
white ; all the upper surface olive brown; tail-feathers brown freckled with a darker tint; primaries brown
margined with a lighter tint ; sides and abdomen deep chestnut, the outer line of feathers above bemg edged
with white ; on each side of the abdominal line the feathers are strongly and elegantly marked with alternate
bands of black and white.

The female or young male differs from the adult male in being less in size, in having the plumage less bright, and

in having the plumes on the crown of the head considerably shorter.

Ortyx plumifera, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. 1837.

 

Havine been always particularly interested with this New World group, it was with almost inexpressible
pleasure that [ hailed the arrival of this lovely species of Ortyx, three specimens of which formed a part of the
ornithological collection of the late Mr. David Douglas, which collection was forwarded to England shortly
after his lamentable death and was finally consigned to the Museum of the Zoological Society of London ;
and it is to the Council of that Society that I am indebted for permission to figure this species in the present
work.

Had the gentleman who procured this valuable addition to our ornithological stores been permitted to
return to his native land, we should doubtless have been put in possession of some details venypacliing its
history, which deficiency I am unable to supply ; and in all probability a considerable pouee will aS
before another equally intrepid traveller and enthusiastic naturalist a Seu) Ho: ne oe e ae a
his life in pursuit of the unknown treasures of the little-explored regions of California, of which this bird is
he thi are ornamented is in no instance so much

The plumed crests with which all the members of this group are oe z Te ae
developed as in the present species, in which this peculiar a would are 2 ie : ieee
maximum ; and if we may be allowed to conjecture, other species will yet be discovered m which the crest-
feathers will not be so long nor assume so narrow and lanceolate a form. ie ceca aioe

In their habits, manners, and food the members of this group closely assim ate to |‘ iG iW - a
of the Old World, but differ from them in possessing the power of perching on trees, which they are c
stantly in the habit of doing.

Habitat California.

The figures are of the natural size.