504 GAME BIRDS OF CALIFOBNIA 



Mountain Quail 



Oreortyx picta plumifera (Gould) 



Other names — Plumed Quail; Plumed Partridge; San Pedro Quail; Calli- 

 pepla picta, part; Ortyx picta, part; Ortyx plumifera; Oreortyx picta, part; 

 Oreortyx picta conflnis. 



DESCKiPTioir — Adults, ioth sexes: Head, breast and forepart of back clear 

 bluish slaty gray; plume or topknot of two straight narrow black feathers 

 2.75 to 4.00 inches (70-102 mm.) long when complete; extreme forehead and 

 area between eye and bill whitish; large patch on throat, extending to bill and 

 eyes, bright chestnut brown, bordered above on each side by a narrow line of 

 black and then by a wider white line; bill black; iris brown; back, outer sur- 

 face of wing, rump, upper tail coverts, and tail, light olive brown; primary 

 flight feathers outwardly edged with ashy; an abrupt white edging along 

 margins of inner webs of secondaries; under surface of wing and axillars plain 

 ashy brown; elongated feathers of sides shiny chestnut brown broadly and 

 strikingly marked with black and white bands; a series of white marks high 

 on each side of the body forming a longitudinal line; flanks light chestnut 

 brown; belly whitish; under tail coverts blackish, more or less streaked nar- 

 rowly with dark chestnut; legs and feet dusky. The male differs slightly from 

 the female in the greater length of the plume, the clearer gray of hind neck, 

 and the brighter tone of colors on lower surface. Males: Total length 10.60- 

 11.75 inches (269-298 mm.) (ten specimens); folded wing 5.10-5.46 (129.5- 

 138.5); bill along culmen 0.53-0.57 (13.4^14.5); tarsus 1.38-1.48 (35.1-37.6) 

 (ten specimens); weight 7.0-10.3 oz. (200.0-292.0 gms.) (ten specimens). 

 Females: Total length 10.40-12.12 (264-308) (nine specimens); folded wing 

 5.00-5.58 (127-142); bill along culmen 0.52-0.56 (13.2-14.2); tarsus 1.32-1.46 

 (33.5-37.0) (ten specimens). Juvenile plumage: General tone of coloration pale 

 ashy brown; feathers of upper surface, wings and tail minutely flecked with 

 whitish and dusky or blackish, the pattern coarsest on scapulars, and more in 

 the nature of bars on crown of head, wings and tail; two short blackish 

 feathers with narrow light brown bars at tip, form a plume; inner scapulars 

 most strongly tinged with brown; lower surface clearer ashy, the feathers tip- 

 ped with white; chin, stripe over eye, and cheeks, mostly white; broad patch 

 of blackish varying in extent in different individuals, on lower throat, usually reach- 

 ing to eyes; feathers of sides blackish, broadly bordered with dingy whitish and 

 showing traces of chestnut brown; flanks and lower tail coverts pale cinnamon 

 brown. Natal plumage : Broad stripe of chestnut brown over top of head and down 

 back to tip of tail, bordered on either side by narrower stripes of black and then of 

 whitish; sides of head and body, and wing, minutely marked with dusky and 

 buffy brown; a dark line behind eye; a patch of chestnut brown on shoulder; 

 below yellowish white, palest on chin and belly; flanks and shanks tinged with 

 cinnamon; legs and bill of a pale dull brown. 



Maeks for field identification — Large size (as compared with other quail), 

 long slender black plume (fig: 81), and bands of black, white and chestnut on 

 sides of body (pi. 14). In hand, distinguished from closely similar Painted 

 Quail (Oreortyx picta picta), which inhabits the northern coast region only, 

 by whitish forehead, greater amount of ashy on top of head and back, and 

 lesser amount of grayish olive on upper surface of body generally. Call-note 

 easily distinguishable from that of Valley Quail. 



Voice — Resonant, often turkey -like in quality; of male: a single loud queerk 



