■ypmj « S i l X V i S I « J l A a v a 3 » .T L » H E p d i i
EUPSYCHORTYX PARYICRISTATUS, Gould.
Short-crested Partridge.
Sp e c if ic C h aracter.
Eups. crista! plvmis brevibus, rectis, ad apicem ro tundatis,fusc is; pluvnis auricularibus fu s c is ;
pectore mnaceo vel rubescenti-cinereo, e tfu s co minutissimb gu tta to .
Male. Crest short, straight, light brown tipped with buff; forehead buff; throat and a broad
stripe down each side o f the head, above and behind the eye, rusty red ; ear-coverts brown;
collar surrounding the neck, narrow in front and broad behind, black, spotted with white
and stained with chestnut; centre o f the back, between the shoulders, minutely freckled
grey, brown and black; remainder o f the back blackish brown, each feather freckled
on the margin with grey; scapularies freckled grey and brown, and ornamented on their
inner webs with large patches o f dark brown; wing-coverts freckled, and with a large
spot o f dark brown and another o f white near the extremity o f each feather; primaries
light brown fringed with greyish white, and a few indistinctly barred with freckles o f the
same on their outer w eb s; tail brown, crossed b y narrow freckled bands of whitish and
darker brown; across the breast a band o f greyish red blotched with a darker tint;
breast rufous, each feather with six spots o f light buff encircled with dark brown, the
spots gradually increasing in size on the flanks and lower part of the abdomen, and the
rufous tint changing into blackish brown ; vent buff; under tail-coverts like the abdomen,
but the markings less distinct; bill black ; feet black.
Female.— Crown o f the head and crest very dark brown, the tips o f the latter reddish brown ;
throat and stripe over the eye sandy buff, streaked with black; feathers o f the chest buff
at the tip and crossed in the middle with an arrow-shaped mark o f black; flanks spotted
as in the male, but less brilliant; the upper surface is also similar but paler.
Total length, 8 inches; bill, x ; wing, 3a; tail, 9 f ; torsi, lp ; middle toe and nail, 1a.
O rty x p a n ic rista tu s, Gould in Proc. o f Zool. Soc., Part X I. p. 106.—List o f Birds in Brit.
Mus. Coll., Part III. p. 44.
T his species is very nearly allied to E. Smmmi, but is of a much larger size, and may, moreover, be distinguished
from that bird by the brown colour of the ear-coverts, by the short, straight, broad and Sat form
of its crest-feathers, and by the bolder style of the markings of the flanks. Numerous examples have lately
been imported into this country, but nothing has yet been recorded of its habits or economy.
Habitat. The Columbian Andes.
The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.