UPLAND GAME BIRDS 115 



292 a. PLUMED F ARTRIDGK — Oreorti/x pictus 

 plumij'enis. 



Family : The Grouse, Partridges, Quails, etc. 



Length: 10.50-11.50. 



Adult Male : Crest black ; forehead whitish ; upper parts grayish olive,. 



striped on sides of back with light brown ; top of head, hind-neck, 



and breast bluish slate-color ; throat and sides dark red-brown ; sides 



barred with black and white. 

 Adult Female : Crest shorter ; otherwise plumage the same. 

 Young : Upper parts grayish brown, speckled with white ; breast gray 



with triangular white spots ; a whitish line over the ear ; belly 



white; sides washed with chestnut. 

 Dovmy Young : Head and neck buffy ; broad chestnut stripe down the 



middle of back and rump, bordered along each side by dusky ; breast 



and belly dull whitish. 

 Geographical Distribution : Arid transition zone of Pacific coast district, 



from Lower California northward through Oregon. 

 Breeding Bafige : Along both sides of the Sierra Nevada and the south- 

 ern ranges. 

 Breeding Season : April and May. 

 Nest : On the gi-onnd ; on bed of dead leaves ; concealed under a bush, 



or weeds, or log. 

 Bggs: Usually 8 to 14 ; uniform buff. Size 1.36 X 1.02. 

 Food ; Insects, berries, and bugs. 



One bright morning in early June, on the way from 

 FyfFe to Slippery Ford on the Lake Tahoe stage route, 

 we flushed a Plumed Partridge from the roadside, and 

 my companion remarked that he had flushed a partridge 

 from that place two days before. A search for a nest 

 began among the manzanita bushes and " mountain 

 misery," which latter was thick, nearly ten inches high. 

 After a short hunt we discovered the treasure hidden 

 well at the base of a tall cedar and guarded by the 

 pretty white blossoms and green leaves of Chamaebatia. 



