Letters, E.ctracts, Notices, <SfC. 571 



ochraceous ; forehead entirely asliy/' " B " is characterized 

 as *^ above greyish olive, the hind neck usually partially 

 or Avholly plumbeous, like the breast ; under edges of the 

 tertials light buff or buft'y whitish ; forehead distinctly paler 

 (often whitish) anteriorly/^ 



The large series of specimens which is now before me 

 shows that the above-given characters are in no way de- 

 pendent on any difference of geographical area, being found 

 equally in coast birds and in those from the Sierra Nevada. 

 The number of examples tabulated by Mr. Ridgway^ the 

 whole of his available material, is somewhat less than that 

 in the British Museum ; and, though our series includes 

 specimens from many of the identical localities mentioned in 

 his list, the marked distinctions on which he lays such stress 

 are not to be seen ! This is very remarkable ; and I look 

 forward with interest to the first opportunity of examining 

 the series of 0. pictus in the Smithsonian Institution and in 

 the Department of Agriculture at Washington. The colour 

 of the mantle and nape — -which after all is the only tangible 

 difference between the supposed subspecies, whatever Mr. 

 Ridgway may say to the contrary — is most certainly sexual. 

 Younger females have the upper mantle and nape, as far as 

 the crest, uniform olive-brown. In older birds of the same 

 sex these parts become greyer, but are always more or less 

 mixed with olive-brown on the middle of the mantle and 

 nape, even in the oldest examples. Younger males resemble 

 the old females, while the fully adult males have the mantle 

 and nape uniform grey like the breast. The British-Museum 

 series does not show any differences in the forehead, all 

 examples being perfectly alike in this respect, and the edges 

 of the tertials vary from nearly white to ochraceous in 

 different individuals, but without respect to locality. 



There can be, therefore, in my opinion, no question as to 

 the propriety of suppressing Oreortyx pictus plamiferus, as 

 having no real existence. As I have already stated in my 

 Catalogue (p. 398, footnote), it is founded on male specimens 

 of O. pictus, and the differences of plumage have nothing 

 whatever to do with geographical variation. 



