BOB-WHITES AND QUAILS 



MOUNTAIN QUAIL 

 Oreortyx picta picta (Douijlas) 



A. O, I'. 



Other Names. — Plumed PartriflKC : Mountain Par- 

 irid^i-. 



General Description. — LcuKtli. 12 inches. Pluiiiai^e 

 above, olive-brown ; below, grayish-brown and chestnut. 

 A crest of two straight feathers about two inches long. 



Color. — Adults : The lores and the extreme chin, 

 whitish; patch below eye and extending a short dis- 

 tance behind, and throat, orange-chestnut bordered on 

 top by black and behind by whitish space; rest of 

 front parts of body, grayish-brown more tinged with 

 olive or pale rufous above; back, wings, and tail, plain 

 olive-brown ; the inner secondaries and shoulders 

 bordered with buff or tawny forming a conspicuous 

 lengthwise streak when wings are folded ; primaries 



.XuniljLT 202 



and tail, brownish, the latter finely flecked with the 

 color of the back; abdomen, rich chestnut, the sides 

 and flanks with broad bands of black and rufous ; center 

 of lower abdomen and thighs, whitish or i)ale chest- 

 nut; under tail-coverts, black streaked with chestnut; 

 crest, black: bill, dusky with paler base; feet and iris, 

 brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : Placed on the ground under 

 tlie shelter of tufts of weeds, grass, or small bushes. 

 Egus : 6 to I J, sometimes 18 or 20, creamy white, 

 deposited on a bed of dead leaves or grass. 



Distribution. — Humid districts of the Pacific coast 

 from soutliwustern Washington south to Monterey 

 County, California; introduced on Vancouver Island. 



The inaiiiUain clinilicr in Calif urnia may now 

 and then hear a hi,s,'h, clear, sweet, plaintive call 

 quit quit quit quccah from the slo])c above him 

 and may even catch a g]im])se of a handsome 

 bluish-plumed bird disappearing into the chap- 

 paral. A near view shows it to be the elegant 

 Mountain Quail, the largest and in some ways 

 the finest of its tribe. In California it seems to 

 prefer the brush, chapparal, or timber to the open 

 country, and the inountains to the valleys or 

 plains, but in Oregon and Washington, where the 

 climate is cooler, it seeks lower levels and is 

 quite common in some of the coast valleys of 

 southern Oregon, while in Washington it can 

 exist even on the plains. 



The systematists have divided it into three sttb- 

 species : the Mountain Quail of the humid coast 

 region south to Monterey County, California, 

 which has been introdttced into western ^^'ash- 

 ington and Vancouver Island; the Plumed Quail 

 {Oreortyx picta plumifcra) of the semi-arid re- 

 gions from Oregon south to Inyo and Ventura 

 cotinties, California, and east to the edge of 

 Nevada; and the San Pedro Quail {Oreortyx 

 picta confinis) of the -San Bernardino and San 

 Gabriel mountains in southern California and 

 the San Pedro Martir Mountains in Lower Cali- 

 fornia. The distinctions between these races re- 

 late mainly to coloration and tlie differences are 

 not great. Their habits are much alike. 



The male has a cheery call somewhat like the 

 last note of the common call of Bob-white. Any 

 boy can w-histle it. .\lso he has a crowing note 

 which has been compared to that of a young 

 bantam cock. \Mien the flock is startled its mem- 

 bers emit a chuckling sound slightly similar to 



lliat which comes at such times from a bevy of 

 eastern birds, but here the resemblance ceases. 



The Motintain Quail rarely raises more than 

 one brood in a season but its broods are large 

 and occasionally eighteen or twenty eggs have 

 been found in a nest. The tiny, downy chicks 

 when first hatched are striped down the back 

 with brown and yellow, streaked on each side 

 of the head and speckled over the body with 

 brown and black. After the first few days the 

 little plumelets on the head begin to develop, 

 forming a slight top-knot. The chicks are full 

 of vitality, very active, and so easily frightened at 

 the first alarm that they will scatter like a charge 

 of shot and hide in an instant. When the young 

 arc small the female sometimes emits a scold- 

 ing note somewhat similar to that of a guinea 

 hen. As they grow toward maturity they fre- 

 quent the chapparal, and are quite at home in the 

 thickets. When scattered they are called to- 

 gether again by a note that Edwin Sandys likens 

 to the cry of a young Wild Turkey. 



This Partridge loves the high mountain glens 

 and their foaming streams. It rarely gathers in 

 large packs as does the \'alley Quail but the 

 members of a single brood, or perhaps two, asso- 

 ciate together. In Oregon it thrives on bushy 

 hillsides along the smaller streams. When pur- 

 sued it is more likely to take to its legs than to 

 its wings and to lead the hunter an arduous 

 chase, by running until beyond gunshot and then 

 flying fast and far. As winter comes on the 

 flocks start on foot down the mountain trails 

 and roads which lead into the valleys. In the 

 spring they return to the highlands in the same 

 way, hut in mild winters there seems to be little, 



