Jiiliii 



49 



GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



times approaches the farmers' buildings for the grain that 

 may be scattered about. Its flesh is very palatable, and 

 many are sold in the markets of the cities on the Pacific 

 Coast, where I have frequently seen them hanging in 

 large bunches. Many are shot by sportsmen over dogs, 

 but more are taken, both alive and dead, in traps and 

 snares of many kinds. The nest is the usual slight 

 depression in the ground, hidden in the grass or under 

 bushes or logs, or anything that will afiford the requisite 

 privacy and shelter, and the eggs, in number from eight 

 to perhaps a dozen, are ovate in shape, grading from a 

 pale cream to a rich buff in color, and without spots. In 

 size they average, according to Bendire, 34.5 by 26 milli- 

 meters. 



OREORTYX P ICTUS. 



Geographical Distribution. — From the Bay of San Francisco, 

 California, through Oregon and Washington. Introduced on 

 Vancouver Island. 



Adult Male. — Top of head, sides of neck and breast, plumbe- 

 ous; entire upper parts, upper tail-coverts, and wings, deep 

 olive-brown, in some specimens with a rufous tinge, especially 

 upon the wings ; crest of lengthened straight feathers, black ; 

 chin, white ; entire throat, rich chestnut, bordered on the sides 

 with black, and separated from the olive ear-coverts and bluish 

 neck by a conspicuous white line ; a white spot behind the eye ; 

 flanks, deep chestnut, broadly barred with black and white, the 

 latter widest and most conspicuous ; middle of belly, white ; 

 under tail-coverts black, the feathers with a central line of deep 

 chestnut ; tail, olive-brown, mottled with black ; inner edges 

 of tertials broadly marked with ochraceous, forming a line on each 

 side of the rump ; bill, black. Total length about 10 inches, 

 wing, 5| ; tail, 3^ ; tarsus, if ; bill on culmen, f . 



There seems to be considerable variation in the color of the 

 inner edges of the tertials, some birds having them white tinged 

 with deep buff or ochraceous, and this is confined mainly toward 

 the tips of the feathers ; while in others the white portion is more 



