MOUNTAIN QUAIL 505 



uttered at intervals; note of alarm: ca-ca-ca-ca-cree-a or gup, gup, gup, quee-ar, 

 queS-ar. 



Nest — A depression on the ground lined with leaves, pine needles or grass 

 and usually concealed beneath an overhanging rock, log or bush. 



Eggs — 5 to 15, in exceptional cases more ; in shape pointedly ovate, occasionally 

 almost pear-shaped, measuring in inches 1.27 to 1.46 by 0.97 to 1.05 (in milli- 

 meters 32.2 to 37.0 by 24.6 to 26.7), and averaging 1.33 by 1.00 (33.7 by 25.3) 

 (nineteen eggs from California); color plain pale reddish buff. 



General distribxjtion — Mountainous portions of the Pacific coast states 

 from west side of Cascade Eange in northwestern Oregon south through the 

 Sierra Nevada and southern coast ranges of California to northern Lower Cali- 

 fornia; east only to extreme western Nevada. 



Distribution in California — Abundant resident at middle altitudes along 

 the major mountain ra,nge3 almost throughout the state. In detail: Modoc 

 region of northeastern California from Mount Shasta to the Warner Mountains; 

 west along the Oregon line to the Siskiyou Mountains; south along both slopes 

 of Sierra Nevada to Tehachapi Mountains; desert ranges of the Inyo region; 

 southern coast ranges from the Santa Tnez of Santa Barbara County southeast 

 through the San Gabriel, San Bernardino and San Jacinto ranges to the yicinity 

 of the Mexican line; down onto the desert locally at east base of these ranges. 

 Not in the northern coast ranges nearest the ocean from Humboldt County 

 south to Monterey County, where replaced by a near-related subspecies. A 

 slight vertical migration for the winter down the slopes of the Sierra Nevada. 



The ilountain Quail, sometimes known as Mountain Partridge or 

 Plumed Quail, is generally admitted to be the most beautiful of all 

 members of the quail family found in North America. It is also the 

 largest of the species that may be properly termed quail. This bird is 

 foimd throughout the mountainous districts of California with the ex- 

 ception of the northwestern coast region, where a darker subspecies 

 ( Oreortyx picta picta) is found. No representative of the species, how- 

 ever, now occupies the near vicinity of San Francisco B^y. From the 

 Shasta and Modoc regions the range of the Mountain Quail extends 

 southward along both slopes of the Sierra Nevada to the Tehachapi 

 mountains, thence eastward through the higher desert mountains to- 

 wards Death Valley, and southward through the southern coast ranges 

 from the Santa Ynez Mountains of Santa Barbara County to the Mexi- 

 can line in San Diego County. On the eastern bases of the southern 

 California ranges this quail occurs about springs well out onto the 

 desert. There are a few places where Mountain Quail and Valley 

 Quail nest on common ground, as for example, in San Gorgonio Pass, 

 Eiverside County, and near Walker Pass, Kern County. As a rule 

 the Mountain Quail is to be found on brushy hillsides and in wooded 

 canons between the altitudes of 2,500 and 9,500 feet. In the fall along 

 the Sierra Nevada there is a general downward movement, to a belt 

 usually below the snow-line, so that the winter range may be well 

 below the summer range. Thus, in midwinter, the Mountain and 

 VaUey quails may be found not infrequently on common ground, 

 where in summer only the latter occurs. 



