UPLAND GAME BIRDS 115 
292a. PLUMED PARTRIDGE. — Oreortyx pictus 
plumiferus. 
Famity: The Grouse, Partridges, Quails, ete. 
Length : 10.50-11.50. 
Adult Male: Crest black ; forehead whitish ; upper parts grayish olive, 
striped on sides of back with light brown ; top of head, hind-neck, 
and breast bluish slate-color ; throat and sides dark red-brown ; sides 
barred with black and white. 
Adult Female: Crest shorter ; otherwise plumage the same. 
Young: Upper parts grayish brown, speckled with white ; breast gray 
with triangular white spots; a whitish line over the ear; belly 
white; sides washed with chestnut. 
Downy Young: Head and neck buffy ; broad chestnut stripe down the 
middle of back and rump, bordered along each side by dusky; breast 
and belly dull whitish. 
Geographical Distribution: Arid transition zone of Pacifie coast district, 
from Lower California northward through Oregon. 
Breeding Range: Along both sides of the Sierra Nevada and the south- 
ern ranges. 
Breeding Season: April and May. 
Nest: On the ground ; on bed of dead leaves; concealed under a bush, 
or weeds, or log. 
Eggs: Usually 8 to 14; uniform buff. Size 1.36 1.02. 
Food; Insects, berries, and bugs. 
One bright morning in early June, on the way from 
Fyffe to Slippery Ford on the Lake Tahoe stage route, 
we flushed a Plumed Partridge from the roadside, and 
my companion remarked that he had flushed a partridge 
from that place two days before: A search for a nest 
began among the manzanita bushes and “ mountain 
misery,” which latter was thick, nearly ten inches high. 
After a short hunt we discovered the treasure hidden 
well at the base of a tall cedar and guarded by the 
pretty white blossoms and green leaves of Chameebatia. 
