The Partridges 91 



THE PARTRIDGES 



Subfamily — Odontophorince. Genus, Oreortyx (literally mountain 

 quail). Head with long, slender crest of two feathers, upright, 

 or inclined backward. Mountain dwellers. Plumage very 

 beautiful with sharply contrasting markings. The genus em- 

 braces one species and two subspecies, viz. : O. pictKS, the 

 mountain partridge ; O. p. plumiferns, the plumed partridge ; 

 and O. p. cotifinis, the San Pedro partridge. 



Genus Callipepla, crest full and short. C. squamata^ the scaled 

 partridge, and C. s. castaneigastra, the chestnut-bellied scaled 

 partridge. 



Genus Lophortyx, crest of several overlapping feathers, recurved, 

 upright, widening from base to tip, distinct from crown feathers. 

 L. californicus, the California partridge ; L. c. vallicola, the 

 valley partridge ; and L. gambelli, GambePs partridge. 



Genus Cyrtonyx, crest full, soft, depressed. Species, C. montezuma, 

 the Massena partridge. 



THE MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE 

 ( Oreortyx pictus) 



Adult male — Top of head, sides of neck and breast, plumbeous ; 

 entire upper parts, upper tail-coverts and wings, deep olive- 

 brown, sometimes tinged with rufous ; crest of lengthened 

 straight feathers, black ; chin, white ; entire throat, rich chest- 

 nut, bordered on the sides with black, and separated from the 

 bluish neck by a conspicuous white line ; a white spot behind 

 the eye ; flanks, deep chestnut, broadly barred with black and 

 white; middle of belly, white; under tail-coverts, black, the 

 feathers showing a central line of deep chestnut ; tail, olive- 

 brown, mottled with black ; inner edges of tertials broadly 

 marked with ochraceous white ; bill, black. Total length about 

 10 inches, wing, 5I; tail, 3^; tarsus, if; bill, f . The adult 

 female closely resembles the male, the only noticeable differ- 

 ence being a somewhat shorter crest. Range, from the Bay of 

 San Francisco, California, through Oregon and Washington. 

 Introduced on Vancouver Island. 



