Notes on the forms of the genus Oreortyx Baird

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Abstract:

A recent investigation into the status of the bird described as Ortyx douglassii by David Douglas led incidentally to the examination of the Ortyx picta of the same author. This latter specific name as Oreortyx picta, has been used for the dark race of Mountain Quail, or Mountain Partridge, that inhabits a narrow strip along the Pacific Coast of North America from northwestern Oregon to central California; while the name Oreortyx picta plumifera has been applied to the subspecies occupying the interior of California and the interior of western Oregon. Mountain Quails of the interior, from Siskiyou in southern Oregon north to near the mouth of the Willamette River, belong to the light-colored interior race, not to the dark coast form, which is confined to the narrow, humid coast strip. Furthermore the original description of Ortyrx picta, in so far as determinable, indicates that the bird from which it was taken belonged to the same race, that is, the bird now called Oreortyx picta plumifera. In view of these facts it is evident that the name Ortyx picta must be transferred to the interior race now known as Oreortyx picta plumifera.

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Reference Code: A23OBE01IDUS

Full Citation: Oberholser, H. C. 1923. Notes on the forms of the genus Oreortyx Baird. Auk 40(1): 80-84.

Location: ANIMAL EF: OREORTYX PICTUS