_Ortyx picta_, DOUGLAS, Trans. Linn. Soc. XVI, 1829, 143. _Callipepla
picta_, GOULD, Mon. Odont. pl. xv.—NEWBERRY, Rep. P. R. R. VI, IV,
1857, 93.—HEERM. X, s. 61. _Ortyx plumifera_, GOULD, Pr. Zoöl. Soc.
V, 1837, 42.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 200.—IB. Birds Amer. V. 1842, 69, pl.
ccxci. _Perdix plumifera_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 220, pl. ccccxxii.
_Lophortyx plumifera_, NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 791. _Oreortyx
pictus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 642.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 225.—COOPER,
Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 546.
SP. CHAR. Head with a crest of two straight feathers, much longer than
the bill and head. Anterior half of the body grayish-plumbeous; the
upper parts generally olivaceous-brown with a slight shade of rufous,
this extending narrowly along the nape to the crest. Head beneath the
eyes and throat orange-chestnut, bordered along the orbits and a short
distance behind by black, bounded anteriorly and superiorly by white, of
which color is a short line behind the eye. Posterior half of the body
beneath white; a large central patch anteriorly (bifurcating behind),
with the flanks and tibial feathers, orange chestnut-brown; the sides
of body showing black and white bands, the former color tinged with
chestnut. Under tail-coverts black, streaked with orange-chestnut.
Upper tertials margined internally with whitish. _Female_ differing
only in slightly shorter crest. Length, 10.50; wing, 5.00; tail, 3.25.
_Juv._ Body, generally, pale brown, the feathers of the upper parts
minutely barred with darker, and with medial shaft-streaks of blackish;
lower plumage plain brown. Breast clear ashy, presenting a well-defined
area. Head pale brown, similar to, but lighter than, the body, with
a conspicuous vertical and lateral (auricular) broad stripe of dark
umber-brown. Feathers of the flanks blackish, broadly bordered with
dingy whitish. A short truncated tuft of hair-like feathers on the
crown. (Described from figures in Grayson’s plate.)
HAB. Mountain-ranges of California and Oregon towards the coast. Nevada
(eastern slope and foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada; RIDGWAY).
[Illustration: =3935= ♂
_Oreortyx pictus._]
There are two quite different races of this species, but which, however,
pass gradually into each other, and must be considered as merely the
extremes of one species. They may be defined as follows:—
1. Var. _pictus_. Pure ash confined to the pectoral region; the
russet-brown or rusty-olivaceous of the upper parts covering whole
neck and crown; forehead entirely ashy. ♂. Wing, 5.25; tarsus shorter
than middle toe (1.27; middle toe, 1.30). _Hab._ Washington Territory,
Oregon, and upper coast region of California.
2. Var. _plumiferus_. Pure ash covering whole pectoral region, and
crown, nape, and upper part of back; the grayish-olivaceous above
confined to the posterior parts. Forehead distinctly whitish. Wing,
5.25; tarsus longer than middle toe (1.27; middle toe, 1.25). _Hab._
Sierra Nevada, and Southern California to Cape St. Lucas.
HABITS. The Mountain Quail of California is said by Dr. Newberry to
be similar in some respects to the common Partridge of Europe. It
is nowhere very common, but occurs sparingly throughout the entire
length of California and Oregon to at least the Columbia, and probably
beyond it, having much the same range with the _californicus_, though
everywhere a rarer bird, and always confined to the hills and mountains.
Its habits are similar to those of the other species of this family,
but it is less gregarious, and is more shy. It is usually found in the
chaparral, where it is put up with difficulty, as it seeks safety by
running on the ground rather than by flight. On the first of August, at
the base of Lassen’s Butte, Dr. Newberry found a solitary hen with a
brood of very young chicks. The brood scattered like young Partridges,
uttering a piping note like that of young chickens, and when all was
still again were recalled by the mother with a _cluck_, much like the
call of the common Hen. The party frequently saw coveys and broods
of these birds, the young of which were about half grown, until they
reached the plains of Pit River. None were seen in the Klamath Lake
basin, the country being too bare and flat. They were again met with
among the hills bordering the Willamette Valley, and were found from the
Columbia, almost uninterruptedly through the Siskiyou, Calapooza, and
Trinity Mountains to California. They are favorite pets with the miners,
by whom they are frequently kept in confinement, and not unfrequently
command a high price. Their flesh is said to be white and excellent, and
fully equal to that of any of the family.
[Illustration: _Oreortyx pictus._]
According to Dr. Cooper, this Quail is very rare in Washington
Territory, a few small coveys having been met with about Vancouver, as
he was informed by the officers in the garrison. He never succeeded
in finding any, though he hunted for them several times with a dog.
They became quite common south of the Columbia, towards the prairies
of the Willamette. He inquired especially for them in other parts
of the Territory, but never heard of them. In California, south
of San Francisco, this bird is said to be a rare curiosity to the
market-hunters, one or two sometimes occurring among flocks of the
California Quail. It is known to them as the Mountain Quail. Dr. Suckley
states that the birds in the Willamette Valley were introduced there,
and that they are now multiplying rapidly upon the prairies back of
Fort Vancouver. With a very little care it is thought the whole of the
Territory may become well stocked with them, as the absence of foxes
west of the Cascade Mountains and the mild open winters are favorable
for their increase.
Dr. Heermann found the birds of this species wild and difficult to
procure, flying and scattering at the least symptom of danger, and again
calling each other together with a note expressive of great solicitude,
much resembling that of a Hen-Turkey gathering her brood around her.
During the survey he observed these birds only once, and then but for
a few minutes, as they were passing through a deep cañon leading down
to Elizabeth Lake. They were seen by the hunters on the mountains
surrounding Tejon Valley; but though he went several times in search of
them, he obtained none.
Mr. Ridgway met with the Mountain Quail on the foot-hills of the Sierra
Nevada, in the vicinity of Genoa and Carson City, and also in the
mountain-ranges lying immediately to the eastward of the Sierra. It was
quite rare and very difficult to discover, and when found was generally
met with accidentally. He obtained it in November in the thick chaparral
at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada. In May he secured a pair in
the cedar woods a little to the eastward of Carson City, and in December
a flock was met with on the Comstock Mountains near Pyramid Lake. Its
call-note when a flock is scattered is almost exactly like that of a
Hen-Turkey, only proportionally weaker. When a flock is startled, they
utter a confused chuckling note, something like that of the common
eastern Quail. The male has a very pleasant crowing-note, which sounds
some like _koo-koo-koóe_. The settlers in Nevada say that, previous to
the settlement of that country by the whites, this Quail was not found
east of the Sierra Nevada, and affirm that they followed the wagon-roads
over the mountains, in the rear of trains and wagons, for the purpose of
picking up the grain scattered along the road. Mr. Ridgway does not give
full credit to the truth of these statements, as he was informed by the
Indians at Pyramid Lake, that, within the memory of the oldest members
of their tribe, it had always been found in that vicinity.
An egg of this species taken by Dr. Canfield, near Monterey, California,
measures 1.45 inches in length by 1.10 in breadth. It is oval in shape;
one end is considerably more pointed than the other. It is of a very
rich cream-color, with a reddish shading, and unspotted.
[Illustration: =9390= ♂
_Lophortyx californicus._]