THE CHESTNUT-BELLIED SCALED PARTRIDGE. 23 



the U. S. National Museum collection measures 34 by 25, the smallest 25 by 

 21 millimetres. 



The type specimen, No. 24021 (PI. 1, Fig. 7), selected from a set of thir- 

 teen eggs, was taken June 21, 1890, near Camargo, Mexico, and purchased 

 from Mr. Thomas H. Jackson, of West Chester, Pennsylvania. 



An egg (figured on PI. 1, Fig. 6), from a set of fifteen collected near Rio 

 Grande City, Texas, was borrowed from, and is now in the collection of, the 

 above-mentioned gentleman. These two eggs represent the heavier marked 

 types, others resemble the two eggs figured under the preceding subspecies so 

 much that they are practically indistinguishable. Specimens marked like the 

 four eggs figured can be found among the eggs of either subspecies. 



ii. Callipepla californica (Shaw). 



CALIFORNIA PARTEIDGE. 



Tetrao calif ornicus Shaw, Naturalists' Miscellany, 1797 (?), PI. cccxlv. 

 Callipepla californica Gould, Monograph Odontophorinae, 1850, PI. xvi. 



(B 474, C 391, R 482, C 575, U 294.) 



Geographical range: Coast, region of California, Oregon, Washington, and Van- 

 couver Island, British Columbia. 



This handsome and well-known western game bird, commonly called 

 Valley or Top-knot Quail, is an inhabitant of the coast region of California 

 from about latitude 34° northward along the coast of Oregon, the new State 

 of Washington, and some of the islands adjacent thereto, including Vancouver 

 Island, British Columbia. In Washington and the islands of Puget Sound it 

 was originally introduced, however, and according to Dr. Suckley, one of the 

 pioneer naturalists of the Northwest coast, this was first done by Governor 

 Charles H. Mason and Mr. Goldsborough as early as 1857, when two lots 

 were turned out on the prairies near Puget Sound, and by the following 

 winter they had increased largely. 1 



Prof. 0. B. Johnson, of Seattle, Washington, states: "This species is very 

 common now on Whitby Island, in Puget Sound, which seems to be especially 

 suitable to these birds, owing to the extensive prairies and open oak parks 

 found thereon." 



Their favorite haunts are the undergrowth and thickets along water 

 courses, brush-covered side hills, and canons, frequenting the roads, cultivated 

 fields, vineyards, and edges of clearings to feed. It is a constant resident, 

 and breeds wherever found. 



The mating time commences early in March, sometimes later, depending on 

 the season. Then the large packs into which this species gathers in the fall of 

 the year break up gradually, each pair of birds selecting a suitable nesting site. 

 In the more densely settled portions of California this Partridge is by no 

 means as common now as it was a decade ago, when it was not unusual to 



1 History North American Birds, 1874, Vol. m, p. 481. 



