134 EESOUECES OF CALIFOKNIA. 



of the Oscines indigenous on this coast are unknown in the 

 older states. Our mocking-birds are never domesticated, and 

 are not to be compared to the mocking-bird of Virginia. 



§ 104. Scratchers. — The ornithological order oi Rasores, or 

 scratchers, is represented in California by eleven species, name- 

 ly : one pigeon, two doves, three grouse, two quails, one par- 

 tridge, and one sand-hill crane. The pigeon, partridge, grouse, 

 quails, and one of the doves, are specifically difierent from the 

 birds known by the same name east of the Mississippi. The 

 wild-turkey is not found in our state. 



The most abundant and prominent of our scratchers, the 

 Californian quail [Lophortyx californicus), is found in all the 

 valleys of CaUfornia and Oregon. Its breast and upper parts 

 are lead-colored, with an olive-brown gloss on the back and 

 wings ; the chin and throat are black, with a white line run- 

 ning backward from the eye ; the forehead is brownish-yellow ; 

 the belly is pale-buff, wdth an orange-brown round spot in the 

 middle, changing to white at the sides ; the feathers on the 

 back and sides have a central streak of white, and those on 

 the top and sides of the neck have black edgings. The head 

 bears a crest numbering from three to six feathers, usually 

 five, about an inch and a half long. The shafts are bare, very 

 slender, and, though all are m a straight fine on the longitu- 

 dinal medial line of the head, they are so near together as to 

 look Hke but one shaft, more especially as the fine, fur-like 

 bushes at their tops all combine to form a compact little plume. 

 These feathers are usually erect, the plume leaning forward 

 when the bird is trying to look its best in the presence of com- 

 pany ; but when running about in the grass, and not thinking 

 of its appearance, the crest is lowered, falling forward over the 

 bill. 



The Californian quail has two notes — the song and the call. 

 The song of the Atlantic quail is in two notes — the well-known 

 whistle, sounding like " Bob- White." The song of the Cali- 

 fornian quail has but one note, beginning like the " Bob" and 

 ending like the " White" of its Eastern relative. The calls ol 



