O B .T Y X - ' P I i l IM I F I E m A . . í&mUJ.
O R T Y X P L UMI F E R A , Gould.
Ort. capite, nuchd, pectoreque intensé ciñereis; plumis duabus graálibus et subpendentibus e vértice nigris; guld intensé
castaned ad latera lined albd árcumdatd, infra oculos notd nigrd; loro sordidéalbo ; corpore superiore ólivaceo-fusco;
rectricibus cauda fuscis nigro irroratis; ala primariis brunneis, pogoniis externis, pallidioribus ; ábdominis lateribus
intensé castaneis; suprd lined albd marginatis; infrá fasáis nigris atque albis ornatis; abdomine medio crissoque
castaneis ; rostro nigro ; pedibus pallidi-brunnescentibus.
Long. tot. 9-f- une.; rostri, -f-; ala 5-f; cauda, 3^-; tarsi, 1-f-.
Crown of the head, back of the neck, and chest deep ash g rey ; a plume consisting of two long slender arched
feathers rising from the vertex of the head, b lack ; throat deep chestnut, bounded on the sides by a line of
white, and immediately under the eye by a small patch of black; space between the bill and the eye dirty
w h ite; all the upper surface olive brown; tail-feathers brown freckled with a darker t in t; primaries brown
margined with a lighter t in t ; sides and abdomen deep chestnut, the outer line of feathers above being edged
with white; on each side of the abdominal line the feathers are strongly and elegantly marked with alternate
bands of black and white.
The female or young male differs from the adult male in being less in size, in having the plumage less bright, and
in having the plumes on the crown of the head considerably shorter.
Ortyx plumífera, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc., P art V. 1837.
H a v in g been always particularly interested with this New World group, it was with almost inexpressible
pleasure that I hailed the arrival o f this lovely species o f Ortyx, three specimens o f which formed a p art o f the
ornithological collection o f the late Mr. David Douglas, which collection was forwarded to England shortly
after his lamentable death and was finally consigned to the Museum o f the Zoological Society o f London ;
and it is to the Council o f that Society that I am indebted for permission to figure this species in the present
work.
Had the gentleman who procured this valuable addition to our ornithological stores been permitted to
return to his native land, we should doubtless have been put in possession o f some details respecting its
history, which deficiency I am unable to supply; and in all probability a considerable period will elapse
before another equally intrepid traveller and enthusiastic naturalist will, solely for the love o f science, risk
his life in pursuit o f the unknown treasures o f the little-explored regions o f California, o f which this bird is
a native.
T he plumed crests with which all the members o f this group are ornamented is in no instance so much
developed as in the present species, in which this peculiar character would appear to have reached its
maximum ; and if we may be allowed to conjecture, other species will yet be discovered in which the crest-
feathers will not be so long nor assume so narrow and lanceolate a form.
In their habits, manners, and food the members o f this group closely assimilate to the Quails and Partridges
o f the Old World, but differ from them in possessing the power o f perching on trees, which they are constantly
in the habit o f doing.
. Habitat California.
The figures are o f the natural size.