THE MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE 



( Oreortyx pictus, ) 



The Mountain Partridge, which is 

 also called the Plumed Partridge and 

 the Mountain Quail, is common in the 

 higher mountain ranges of California 

 and Oregon. In the Sierra Nevada 

 range they are frequent in summer to 

 an altitude of seven thousand feet, 

 where Mr. J. G. Cooper found them in 

 the month of September. He found the 

 young not quite full grown and the 

 old birds moulting. In their habits and 

 in their flight these Partridges resemble 

 other quails but they are less gregarious. 

 The flocks seldom contain more than 

 from ten to twenty individuals. Mr. 

 Cooper says: "Their note of alarm is 

 a rather faint chirp, scarcely warning 

 the sportsman of their presence before 

 they fly. They scatter in all directions 

 when flushed, and they call each other 

 together by a whistle, very much like 

 that of a man calling his dog." The 

 mother bird calls and leads her young 

 brood by a cluck not unlike that of the 

 domestic hen. Dr. Newberry once 

 found a hen with a very young brood 

 which scattered on noticing him, and 

 uttered notes not unlike those of young 

 chickens. When the fear of danger had 

 passed, the little birds were recalled by 

 the clucks of their mother. 



The Mountain Partridges are hard 

 to find for they frequent the shrubbery 



and chaparral of dwarf trees of rather 

 inaccessible places on the mountain 

 sides. They ordinarily seek safety by 

 running rather than by flight. Dr. 

 Brewer states that Dr. Heermann found 

 the birds of this species wild and difficult 

 to procure, flying and scattering at the 

 least symptom of danger, and again call 

 ing each other together with a note 

 expressive of great solicitude, much 

 resembling that of a hen-turkey gather 

 ing her brood around her." Dr. Brewer 

 also states that: "When a flock is 

 startled, they utter a confused duckling 

 note, something like that of the common 

 eastern quail. The male has a very 

 pleasant crowing-note, which sounds 

 some like koo-koo-kooe" 



The Mountain Partridge is a larger 

 and more handsome bird than our east 

 ern bob-white. The two attractive 

 plumes of the adult are about three or 

 four inches in length and the spot from 

 which they will grow is indicated in the 

 young soon after leaving the egg, as a 

 tuft of down. It has been claimed that 

 these birds do not often nest much below 

 an altitude of four thousand feet. The 

 eggs are laid on a bed of leaves lying 

 on the ground beneath bushes or tufts 

 of grass or weeds. The eggs are said 

 to have a very rich cream color which 

 is slighted tinted with a reddish shading. 



BIRD LEGENDS IN RHYME 



THE WOODPECKER 



There is a bird in Norway-land, 

 That the children never will feed; 



Because, they say, it's a wicked bird, 

 For it once did an evil deed. 



47 



