Cyrtonyx, Gould, Mon. Odontoph.? 1845. (Type, Ortyx massena, Lesson.)
Gen. Char. Bill very stout and robust. Head with a broad, soft occipital crest of short decumbent feathers. Tail very short, half the length of the wings, composed of soft feathers, the longest scarcely longer than the coverts; much graduated. Wings long and broad, the coverts and tertials so much enlarged as to conceal the quills. Feet robust, extending considerably beyond the tip of the tail. Claws very large, the outer lateral reaching nearly to the middle of the central anterior. The toes without the claws, however, are very short. Sexes very different.
3998 ♂ ½
Cyrtonyx massena.
This genus differs very much from its North American allies in the great development of the feathers composing the wing-coverts, the very short and soft tail, and the very short toes and long claws. It is almost worthy of forming the type of a distinct subfamily, so many and great are its peculiarities. The single North American representative is the only one of our species with round white spots on the lower surface and black ones above. A second species, C. ocellatus, is found in Southern Mexico. They may be distinguished as follows:—
Species.
C. massena. Shaft-streaks of wing-feathers yellowish-white; sides with small round white spots, medial lower parts dark maroon-chestnut. Hab. Northern Mexico, and adjacent portions of the United States, from the Upper Rio Grande and Colorado Valleys, south to Mazatlan.
C. ocellatus.[117] Shaft-streaks of wing-feathers chestnut-rufous. Sides with large rufous spots, medial lower parts bright rufous, lighter anteriorly. Hab. Southern Mexico, and Guatemala.