Part 101

290. 1. Meleagris Gallopavo, Linn. Common Turkey.

Plate I. Male. Plate VI. Female and Young.

Tail with eighteen feathers. Male with a long tuft of bristles pendent from the lower part of the neck in front; frontal wattle blue and red, skin of the neck and head of various tints of blue and purple, caruncles bright red, changing to blue, legs purplish-red; upper parts brownish-yellow, with metallic lustre, changing to deep purple, fire-red, and bronzed green, the truncated tips of the feathers margined with velvet-black; on the hind parts, the black bands much broader; upper tail-coverts deep chestnut, glossed; wing-coverts like the back, excepting the primary coverts, which, with the quills, are dusky, transversely banded with white, the inner minutely mottled with dusky, on a light brownish-red ground; tail-feathers chestnut-red, narrowly barred and minutely dotted with black, a subternal broad band of black, the tips plain chestnut; lower parts like the upper, the tuft of bristles black. Female considerably inferior in size, with the wattles much smaller, the tuft on the breast comparatively small, and only in old birds; the colours of the plumage duller, there being little of the refulgent hues of the male; the lower parts brownish-black. Young before being fledged, are pale brownish-yellow above, pale yellowish-grey beneath, the top of the head brighter, marked in the middle with a longitudinal pale brown band; the back and wings spotted with brownish-black, excepting the smaller wing-coverts, which are uniformly dull brown.

Male, 49, 68. Female, 37, 54.

Breeds from Texas to Massachusetts and Vermont. In the interior to the Missouri, and thence northward to Michigan. Common. Resident, though removing to considerable distances in autumn, in quest of food.

Meleagris Gallopavo, Bonap. Syn. p. 122.

Wild Turkey, Meleagris Gallopavo, Bonap. Amer. Orn. v. i. p. 79.

Wild Turkey, Meleagris Gallopavo, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 630.

Wild Turkey, Meleagris Gallopavo, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. i. p. 1, 33; v. v. p. 559.

FAMILY XXXI. PERDICINÆ. PARTRIDGES.

Bill very short, stout, broader than high at the base, with the upper mandible convex, thin-edged, obtuse, the lower with the dorsal line convex, the tip rounded. Head small, oblong; neck of moderate length, or rather short; body very bulky. Feet rather of moderate length, stout; tarsus bare, anteriorly scutellate; hind toe rather small, third long, lateral nearly equal, all scutellate, anterior webbed at the base. Claws moderate, arched, compressed, obtuse. Plumage full and strong; feathers with the plumule much developed. Wings rather short, convex, rounded. Tail generally short and rounded, of more than twelve feathers. Tongue triangular, pointed; œsophagus with a very large crop; stomach a very strong muscular gizzard, with the lateral muscles highly developed, the epithelium dense, with two concave grinding surfaces; intestine long, and of moderate width; cœca very large, oblong, internally with reticulate ridges. Trachea without inferior laryngeal muscles. Nest on the ground, rudely constructed. Eggs numerous. Young covered with stiffish down.

GENUS I. ORTYX, Steph. AMERICAN PARTRIDGE.

Bill very short, robust, rather obtuse; upper mandible with the outline decurved from the base, the ridge narrow at the base, on account of the breadth of the nasal membrane, somewhat distinct in its whole length, with the sides convex, the gape-line arched, the edges thin, without notch, the tip decurved, thin-edged, obtuse; lower mandible with the angle short and rounded, the dorsal line slightly convex, the sides rounded, the edges involute, the tip rounded. Nostrils basal, linear, operculate, nearly concealed. Head of ordinary size, ovato-oblong; neck rather short; body full. Feet of moderate length; tarsus shorter than the middle toe, with two anterior series of large scales; first toe small and elevated; third very long, second shorter than third, scutellate, connected at the base by webs of a considerable extent. Claws rather stout, arched, compressed, rather acute. Plumage dense, rather compact; wings short, concave, rounded. Tail short, rounded, of twelve feathers. A bare space behind the eyes. Tongue triangular, fleshy; œsophagus with an ovate oblique crop on the fore part of the neck; stomach a very large and strong gizzard, broader than long, placed obliquely, with concave grinding surfaces; intestine long and wide; cœca large.

291. 1. Ortyx Virginiana, Linn. Common American Partridge.

Plate LXXVI. Male, Female, and Young.

Male with a short broad crest; the forehead, a broad band over the eye, and the throat, white; loral space, a band below the eye, and a broad semilunar band on the fore neck, black; upper part of the head, hind and lower part of the neck all round, brownish-red; upper parts variegated with chestnut-red, black, grey, and yellowish; lower yellowish-white, undulatingly barred with black, the sides streaked with red. Female similar, but without a black band on the fore neck, its place being merely spotted, and with the throat and a band over the eye brownish-yellow. Young with the feathers having a central yellowish line, the lower parts dull yellowish-brown, without black bands.

Male, 10, 15. Female, 9-1/2, 14.

Breeds abundantly from Texas to Massachusetts; in the interior, high on the Missouri, and in all intermediate districts.

Quail or Partridge, Perdix virginiana, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. vi. p. 21.

Perdix virginiana, Bonap. Syn. p. 124.

American Partridge or Quail, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 647.

Virginian Partridge, Perdix virginiana, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. i. p. 388; v. v. p. 564.

292. 2. Ortyx Californica, Lath. Californian Partridge.

Plate CCCCXIII. Fig. 10. Male and Female.

On the top of the head an elegant crest of six elongated, recurved, clavate feathers, of which the webs are deflected. Male with the forehead dull yellow, the crest black; upper part of head dark brown, margined with a band of white; throat deep black, margined with a semilunar band of white, curving up to the eyes; hind part and sides of neck light ash-grey, beautifully marked with black, each feather having a marginal band and central line of that colour; lower half of neck anteriorly, and a part of the breast, greyish-blue, the rest of the breast light yellowish, its central part chestnut, with semilunar black bands; sides olive-brown, each feather with a central white streak; the rest of the lower parts light yellowish-brown, faintly barred with dusky, the lower tail-coverts with a central dark brown streak; back and wings greyish-brown, tinged with olive, outer secondaries margined externally, inner internally, with light red; tail bluish-grey, edged with olivaceous. Female with the tuft shorter, the colours duller; the upper part of the head dull brown, throat and cheeks brownish-white, streaked with dusky; hind part and sides of neck greyish-brown, each feather with a medial and marginal band of black, as in the male, but fainter; lower part of neck and part of breast brownish-grey; the rest of the upper and lower parts as in the male.

Male, 9-1/4, wing 4-7/12. Female, 9, wing 4-7/12.

Upper California. Abundant. Resident.

Californian Partridge, Perdix californica, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. v. p. 152.