OREORTYX PICTUS. 601 



List of spccimcnu. 



214, (J ad.; West Humboldt Mountains (Camp I'J), September 'S3, 1SC7. 2!)— 

 40i— 12i|— 10— li— L4— 11^3J. Weight, 4i pounds. Bill, deep black; iris, light 

 bazel ; cervical sac, light leaden-blue; toes, gi'ayish-olive. 



311, 9 ad.; Pea- Vine district. Western Nevada, November 21, 1867. 23— o(>i — 

 12^— S^— ]i— If— 7i|— 23. Rill, deep black; iris, light brown; toes, blackish horn- 

 color. 



312, 9 ad.; same locality and date. 21|— 34— 10^— S— 1^^- Ig— 7rj— 3. Same 

 remarks. 



313, 9 ad.; same locality and date. 21^— 34— lOij'— 8— li— If— 7J— 2^. Same 

 remarks. 



943, 9 ad.; City of Rocks, Idaho, October 3, 1S(J8. 22— 35— {»)— 8^. Same 

 remarks. 



Family PERDICIDJ^] — Partridges and Quails. 

 Oreortyx piotus. 



Iflountaiii ((uasl or Partritlg:*'. 



{Mah'-tem-ah' -fell and Tii-elili -fuddle o( the Waslioe.s; Kih'-hikoi' the Paiutes.) 



Ortyx plumifcra, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., V, 1837, 42. 



Oreortyx ■pictus var. plumiferits, B. B. & R., Hist. N. Am. Birds, III, 1874, p. 470. 



Oreortyx picMis, AtTCT. (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 fronting on 

 Pyramid Lake, where the slopes were covered, more or less, by tlie 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 present one inhabiting the Sierra Nevada and the peninsula of Lower California), 

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



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



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

 — CooPEK, 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, 111, 1874, 475, pi. 

 LXIII, fig. 5 (part). 



