CYRTONYX OCELLATUS, Gould.
Ocellated Partridge.
S p e c if ic C harac t er.
Cyrt. abdomine medio pallide castaneo; lateribus inferiorihus splendid& castaneis transversim
nigro fa s c ia tis ; corporis superioris plumis singulis lined lata centrali a d apicem latiore
ornatis.
Bill black, strong and arched; top o f the head, which is slightly crested, blackish brown; a
large white mark extends over each eye and passes on to the back part o f the neck; beneath
the eye is an oval mark o f bluish black; from the base o f the lower mandible extends
another white mark which spreads upon the front of the neck and is bounded by an abrupt
margin o f black; a large patch o f the latter colour occupies the chin and throat; the
general colour o f the whole o f the upper surface is brownish olive, each feather having a
decided central line of chestnut following the direction o f the shaft and becoming spatulate
at the t ip ; the web o f each feather is transversely barred and blotched with black; the
chest and abdomen are sandy chestnut, becoming more intense on the under tail-coverts;
sides o f the chest and flanks transversely spotted with yellowish white on a bluish grey
ground; thighs black; tail very short and partly hidden; tarsi brown.
Total length, 6* inches; bill, 4.; wing, 4>.; tail, — ; tarsi, lx ; middle toe and nail, I*.
O r ty x ocellatus, Gould in Proc. o f Zool. Soc., Part IV. p. 75.
Two examples of this bird are all that have come under my notice; of these, the one from which my
description was taken is in the Museum of the Zoological Society of London, and the other, an exceedingly
fine specimen, in that of the Jardin des Plantes. It is very nearly allied to the Cyrtonyx Massena, but
differs from that species in having the black marks on the face larger and more conspicuous, in the
brighter chestnut of the lower part of the abdomen, and in the stripes down the centres of the feathers
of the upper surface being chestnut instead of buff; it differs also in the greater development of the
secondaries and tertiaries, which are so much lengthened, that when the wing is closed the tail is scarcely
distinguishable.
I regret to say that nothing whatever is known of its history.
Habitat. Guatemala.
The figures are of the natural size.