PARTRIDGES AND QUAILS: Family Perdicidae [ 2.2.5 ] 



country, and it has been listed by nearly all subsequent writers. Bendire 

 (1892.) recorded a set of eggs taken near Coquille May 2.7, 1877, which 

 was the first definite breeding record from the area now known to be 

 inhabited by this subspecies. We have few actual nesting records avail- 

 able, either in literature or in our own notes, but those we have show 

 that the eggs are laid in late May and early June. Alex Walker has fur- 

 nished data on six nests found by him in Clackamas and Tillamook 

 Counties between May n and June 13, the number of eggs varying from 

 8 to 15. Dr. Prill reported three nests at Scio, May 18, May 5, and May 

 18, with 9, iz, and 15 eggs, respectively. 



The Mountain Quail is the largest member of the family found in 

 Oregon and is essentially a brush and timberland bird. It is usually most 

 common in cut-over lands or about the edges of clearings where it can 

 find an abundance of wild berries and seeds to mix with the insects it 

 consumes. As with other quail, the flight is strong and swift, the birds 

 bursting cover like miniature bombs and diving again into the brush or 

 weed patches after a short flight. It is also a very rapid runner on the 

 ground, trusting to its heels to escape as frequently as it takes to the air. 



Plumed Quail: 



Oreortyx ficta picta (Douglas) 



DESCRIPTION. "Like 0. [p. pa/meri] picfus, but upper parts olive, the hind neck 

 usually partly or wholly bluish slate like the breast; forehead generally paler, often 

 whitish, inner edge of tertials lighter buff or buffy whitish." (Bailey) Downy 

 young: "In the downy young a broad band of deep 'chestnut,' mixed with and 

 bordered by black, extends the whole length of the upper parts, terminating in a 

 point in the middle of the crown; the rest of the upper parts, including the cheeks, 

 are buffy or buffy white, with large blotches of 'chestnut' on the wings, thighs, and 

 flanks and with a dusky line behind the eye; the under parts are grayish white or 

 yellowish white, palest on the chin." (Bent) Si%e: Length 9.50, wing 4.35-4.70, 

 tail 4.10-4.70. Nesf and eggs: Like those of Valley Quail. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: From northern Oregon east of Cascades south nearly to 

 Mexican line. In Oregon: In almost every county of eastern Oregon and in Rogue 

 River Valley (Jackson and Josephine Counties) west of Cascades. (See Figure 6.) 



THE PLUMED QUAIL, the paler, grayer form, is the one originally described 

 by Douglas, so that his name now applies to the eastern and southern 

 Oregon birds, although his notes included the race 0. p. palmeri as well. 

 The 1931 A. O. U. Check-List gives the range of 0. p. picta as west of 

 the Cascades in northwestern Oregon, but we have carefully compared 

 our specimens and find that birds from Portland, Newberg, and Willa- 

 mette Valley points are much closer to the coast form than to the eastern 

 Oregon form. In fact, one Portland bird is actually darker than birds 

 from Yachats, which is only a few miles from the type locality of the 

 humid coast form. At present, the Plumed Quail, which in habits and 



