120 GROUSE, PARTRIDGES, QUAILS, ETC. 



KEY TO ADULT MALE Lo'PHORTYX. 



1. Back of head and flanks rufous gambelii, p. 121. 



1'. Back of head and flanks olive brown or gray. 



2. Upper parts smoke brown, inner webs of tertials deep buffy or ochra- 



ceous calif ornicus, p. 120. 



2'. Upper parts bluish gray, inner webs of tertials buffy or whitish. 



vallicola, p. 120. 



KEY TO ADULT FEMALE LOPHORTYX. 



1. BeUy buffy, not scaled gambelii, p. 121. 



1'. Belly not huffy, scaled. 



2. Darker californicus, p. 120. 



2'. Lighter vallicola, p. 120. 



294. Lophortyx californicus (Shaw). California Partridge. 



Adult male. — Crest black ; patch on back of head olive or dark brown, 

 bordered front and sides by black and white lines ; upper parts deep smoky 

 brown, with deep buffy or reddish brown stripes along sides of back ; 

 throat black, bordered by white, breast bluish gray ; belly scaled ezcejjtfor 

 central dee]) chestnut patch ; flanks dark olivaceous or smoky brown, streaked 

 with white. Adult female : head without black or white markings; gen- 

 eral color deep smoky brown ; belly scaled, without chestnut patch or 

 chestnut on sides ; sides streaked with white. Young : upper parts grayish 

 brown, feathers of back and wing coverts with dusky and whitish edgings ; 

 feathers of nape with faint white shaft streaks and dusky borders ; under 

 parts gray, barred with whitish. Length : 9.50, wing 4.J35-4.70, tail 4.10- 

 4.70. (See Fig. 196, p. 121.) 



Distribution. — Resident in liumid Transition and Upper Sonoran zones 

 along Pacific coast region from Monterey County, California, to southern 

 Oregon and northward. Introduced in Washington and British Columbia. 



Nest. — Usually a hollow lightly lined with grass beside a rock, under a 

 brush pile or other shelter. Eggs: generally 12 to 16, white or buffy, 

 irregularly spotted over the entire surface. 



Food. — Largely insects and weed seed. 



The California partridge is the counterpart of the valley quail in 

 habits (see 294a). 



294a. L. c. vallicola (Ridgw.). Valley Partridge. 



Adults. — Like californicus, but lighter colored, upper parts grayish 



brown, edgings of tertials buffy or whitish ; 



flanks olive grayish or grayish brown. Young : 



chest gray, marked with triangular white 



spots, belly faintly barred with grayish ; 



Fiff 195 Female upper parts brownish, streaked and spotted 



with whitish. 



Distribution. — Resident in arid Upper and Lower Sonoran zones from 



Oregon south through California and western Nevada to Cape St. Lucas, 



Lower California. 



When you come down the sides of the Sierra from the yellow 

 pines into the digger pines and oaks of the Sonoran zones in the 

 breeding season, the quail that fly before you are smaller and bluer 

 than the mountain quail above, and the flat tone of their quick who- 



