96 The Partridge Family 



THE CHESTNUT-BELLIED SCALED PARTRIDGE 



(C s. castaneigastra) 



This is a subspecies of the preceding, distin- 

 guished by a more or less extensive patch of 

 chestnut on the belly. With this exception, its 

 habits, color, and markings so closely resemble 

 the other that further references are unnecessary. 

 It is found in the lower Rio Grande Valley, in 

 Texas, and in eastern Mexico. From the sport- 

 ing point of view, it has little to recommend it. 



THE CALIFORNIA PARTRIDGE 



{Lophortyx californicus) 



Adult male — Forehead, buff; shafts of feathers, black; head, dark 

 chestnut, bordered anteriorly and on sides with black, followed 

 by a line of pure white ; line from bill to eye, white ; chin and 

 throat, jet-black, bordered all round from behind the eye with 

 white, margined with black ; back of neck and upper part of 

 back, blue, the feathers margined with black and a minute blu- 

 ish white spot at tip ; entire upper parts, deep smoke-brown ; 

 inner edge of tertials, buff, forming two conspicuous lines ; pri- 

 maries, dark brown ; breast, deep blue ; belly, deep buff, the 

 feathers margined with black ; flanks, smoke-brown, streaked 

 with white ; abdomen, dark chestnut, the feathers with black 

 margins ; vent and under tail-coverts deep buff, with broad 

 central streaks of dark brown ; bill, black ; crest, black, very 

 narrow at base, widening out and curving forward at the tip ; all 

 the feathers (about six) enclosed between the webs of the ante- 

 rior plume. Total length of bird, 10 inches ; wing. 4^ ; tail, 4 ; 

 tarsus, i^; bill, \. The female has a shorter, chestnut-brown 

 crest ; head, smoky gray, without white or black markings ; no 

 chestnut patch on abdomen, and the scaly markings less pro- 

 nounced. Colors throughout more subdued. Range, Cali- 

 fornia coast region, as far nortli as Monterey. Introduced into 

 Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. 



