OREORTYX PIOTUS. (^01 



List of specimens. 



214, (J ad.; West Iluniboldt Momitains (Caiup ID), September 23, 1867. 29— 

 40J— 12^—10— 1^2J—11^._3J. Wei-lit, 4^ pounds. Bill, deep black; iris, light 

 bazel ; cervical sac, light leaden-blue; toes, grayish-olive. 



311, 9 ad.; Pea-Vine district. Western Nevada, November 21, 1SC7. 23— :i^ 



12J— 8^— 1 1— 1^— 7i|_23. Bill, deep black ; iris, light brown ; toes, blackish horn- 

 color. 



312, 9 ad.; same locality and date. 21f— 34— 10^8— 1^— l|_7i— 3. Sam.j 

 remarks. 



313, 9 ad.; same locality and date. 21^34— lOf— 8— l^lf— 7^2^. Same 

 remarks. 



943, 9 ad.; City of Eocks, Idaho, October 3, 1868. 22— 35— (!)— H^. Same 

 remarks. 



Family PERDICIDJi;— Partridges and Quails. 

 Oreortyx pictus. 



Ifloiintaiii <tuail or Partridg^c. 



/y. plumiferuti.^ 

 {Mah'-tem-ah'-tekRud Tu-ehk' -tiiddle of the Washoes; Kih'-hikof the Paiutes.) 



Ortijx jilumifem, GouLD, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lend., V, 1837, 42. 



Oreortyx pictus var. plumifcrus, B. B. & R., Hist. N. Am. Birds, III, 1874, p. 476. 



Oreortyx pictus, AucT. (part). 



This superb bird occurred rather sparingly among the mountains and 

 hills immediately adjacent to the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, as well 

 as on the eastern slope of that range itself. It was so rare, however, or at , 

 least so difficult to find, that we could learn but little concerning its habits. 

 We first met with it in a broad canon of the Virginia Mountains frontinsr on 

 Pyramid Lake, where the slopes were covered, more or less, by the tall 

 rye-grass, interspersed with scattered cedars. Here a flock of perhaps a 



' The typical form, which inhabits the coast districts of Califoruia and Oregon 

 (the i)re.sent one inhabiting the Sierra Nevada and the penin.sula of Lower California), 

 differs in darker, browner colors. Its synonymy is as follows: — 



Ortyx picta, Douglas, Trans. Linn. Soc, XVI, 1829, 143. 



Oreortyx pictus, Bahjd, Birds N. Am., 1858, 642; Cat. N. Am. Birds, 1859, No. 473. 

 — CooPEB, Orn. Cal., I, 1870, 546 (part).— CouES, Key, 1872, 237; Check List, 1873, 

 No. 390; Birds N.W., 1874, 440.— B. B. & R., Hist. N. Am. Birds, III, 1874, 475, pi. 

 LXiii, lig. 5 (part). 



