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.
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.
