120 
GROUSE, PARTRIDGES, QUAILS, ETC, 
KEY TO ADULT MALE LOPHORTYX. 
1 . Back of head and flanks rufous. gambelii, p. 121. 
1'. Back of head and flanks olive brown or gray. 
2. Upper parts smoke brown, inner webs of tertials deep buffy or ochra- 
ceous. californicus, p. 120 . 
2'. Upper parts bluish gray, inner webs of tertials buffy or whitish. 
vallicola, p. 120. 
KEY TO ADULT FEMALE LOPHORTYX. 
1. Belly buffy, not scaled. gambelii, p. 121. 
1'. Belly not buffy, scaled. 
2. Darker. californicus, p. 120. 
2'. Lighter. vallicola, p. 120. 
294. Lophortyx californicus (Shaw). California Partridge. 
Adult male. — Crest black ; patch on back of head olive or dark brown, 
bordered front and sides by black and white lines ; upper parts deep smoky 
brown , with deep buffy or reddish brown stripes along sides of back; 
throat black, bordered by white, breast bluish gray; belly scaled except for 
central deep chestnut patch ; flanks dark olivaceous or smoky brown, streaked 
with white. Adult female : head without black or white markings; gen¬ 
eral color deep smoky brown ; belly scaled, without chestnut patch or 
chestnut on sides ; sides streaked with white. Young : upper parts grayish 
brown, feathers of back and wing coverts with dusky and whitish edgings ; 
feathers of nape with faint white shaft streaks and dusky borders ; under 
parts gray, barred with whitish. Length: 9.50, wing 4.35-4.70, tail 4.10- 
4.70. (See Fig. 196, p. 121.) 
Distribution. — Resident in humid Transition and Upper Sonoran zones 
along Pacific coast region from Monterey County, California, to southern 
Oregon and northward. Introduced in Washington and British Columbia. 
Nest. — Usually a hollow lightly lined with grass beside a rock, under a 
brush pile or other shelter. Eggs: generally 12 to 16, white or buffy, 
irregularly spotted over the entire surface. 
Food. — Largely insects and weed seed. 
The California partridge is the counterpart of the valley quail in 
habits (see 294a). 
294a. L. c. vallicola ( Ridgw .). Valley Partridge. 
Adults. — Like californicus , but lighter colored, upper parts grayish 
brown, edgings of tertials buffy or whitish ; 
flanks olive grayish or grayish brown. Young: 
chest gray, marked with triangular white 
spots, belly faintly barred with grayish; 
Fig 195. Female. upper parts brownish, streaked and spotted 
with whitish. 
Distribution. —Resident in arid Upper and Lower Sonoran zones from 
Oregon south through California and western Nevada to Cape St. Lucas, 
Lower California. 
When you come down the sides of the Sierra from the yellow 
pines into the digger pines and oaks of the Sonoran zones in the 
breeding season, the quail that fly before you are smaller and bluer 
than the mountain quail above, and the flat tone of their quick who « 
