GROUSE, PARTRIDGES, QUAILS, ETC. 
117 
GENUS OREORTYX. 
General Characters. — Crest of two long slender plumes ; bill and feet 
stout, tarsus equal to middle toe and claw; tail about three fifths the 
length of wing, broad, rounded, with long coverts ; wing five inches or 
more. 
KEY TO ADULTS. 
1. Upper parts olive brown from tail to crest .... pictus, p. 117. 
T. Upper parts grayish olive, bluish gray on nape . plumiferus, p. 117. 
292. Oreortyx pictus ( Dougl .). Mountain Partridge. 
Adult male. — Crest black ; upper parts deep olive brown , usually to crest , 
top of head bluish gray, stripes on sides of back buffy or yellowish brown, 
throat and flanks deep chestnut , flanks broadly banded with black and 
white; breast plain bluish slate. (See Fig. 194.) Adult female: crest 
usually shorter. Young: crest blackish, barred at end with pale brown, 
breast gray, marked with triangular spots, throat and belly whitish ; upper 
parts grayish brown, specked with white. Length: 10.50-11.50, wing 5.25- 
5.40. 
Distribution. — Resident mainly in humid Transition zone of Pacific 
coast region, from Santa Barbara, California, north to Washington. 
Nest. — On the ground, alongside or under an old log, bush, or other 
shelter. Eggs : usually 8 to 12, creamy or creamy buff, unspotted. 
Food. — Grasshoppers, beetles, ants, and other insects, berries, seeds, 
buds, and leaves. 
Though 0. p. plumiferus has been given the name plumed par¬ 
tridge to distinguish it from 0. pictus of the humid belt, both birds 
are known locally as mountain quail, and their habits are practically 
identical. 
292a. O. p. plumiferus (Gould). Plumed Partridge. 
Like 0. pictus , but upper parts olive, the hind neck usually partly or 
wholly bluish slate like the breast; 
forehead generally paler, often whitish, 
inner edge of tertials lighter buff or 
buffy whitish. 
Distribution. — Resident in arid Tran¬ 
sition zone from the west side of the 
Cascades in northern Oregon, — except 
near the coast, — south along both sides of the Sierra Nevada, and in the 
southern coast ranges to northern Lower California. 
Nest. — A slight hollow in the ground lined with a few dry leaves, pine 
needles, and grasses, under shelter of thickets, bushes, weeds, or fallen 
treetops. Eggs : 8 to 14, cream to reddish buff. 
In winter when there are heavy snows on the mountains, the 
quail come down to the foothills, and have even been seen in Pasa¬ 
dena, three miles from the base of the mountains. In summer they 
are most abundant in the dense chaparral of Transition zone, 
though they go much higher. 
Only once during two months spent in the Sierra, in the heart 
of the plumed quail country, did I qome face to face with one of 
Fig. 194. 
