Range.--Texas; casually north to Kansas. A grayer variety of the Bob-white. The nesting habits and eggs are the same as those of the Bob-white, except that the eggs may average a trifle smaller. Size 1.18 × .92. 291. MASKED BOB-WHITE. _Colinus ridgwayi._ Range.--Sonoran region of Mexico north to southern Arizona. The female of this species is like that of the Texan Bob-white. Their nesting habits and eggs are in all respects like those of the other Bob-whites. Size of eggs, 1.20 × .95. [Illustration 177: White.] [Illustration: Bobwhite. Florida Bobwhite. Masked Bobwhite.] [Illustration: right hand margin.] Page 176 292. MOUNTAIN QUAIL. _Oreortyx picta picta._ Range.--Pacific coast of North America from California to Washington. This is the largest of the Partridges, being 11 inches in length. It is of a general grayish color, with chestnut throat patch, and chestnut flanks, barred with white. Two long plumes extend downward from the back of the head. This species nests abundantly in the mountainous portions of northern California and throughout Oregon, and is gradually increasing in numbers in Washington. As a rule they nest only on the higher mountain ranges, placing their nest of leaves under the protection of an overhanging bush or tuft of grass. Their eggs number from six to fifteen, and are of a pale reddish buff color. Size 1.35 × 1.05. 292a. PLUMED QUAIL. _Oreortyx picta plumifera._ Range.--Mountain ranges of California and Lower California, chiefly in the southern parts of the former. This species is like the latter except that it is grayer on the back of the head and neck. Its nesting habits and eggs are like the preceding. 292b. SAN PEDRO QUAIL. _Oreortyx picta confinis._ Range.--San Pedro Mountains, Lower California. This species, which is grayer above than the preceding two, breeds only in the highest peaks of its range. Otherwise its nesting habits and eggs are the same as the other Plumed Partridges. 293. SCALED QUAIL. _Callipepla squamata squamata._ Range.--Mexico and southwestern border of the United States. This blue gray species is 10 inches in length; the feathers on the neck and underparts have narrow dark borders, thus giving the plumage a scaly appearance, from which the birds take their name. They have a small tuft of whitish or buffy feathers on the top of the head. It is especially abundant in the dry arid portions of its range, being found often many miles away from water. Their eggs are laid in a shallow hollow under some small bush or cactus, and number from eight to sixteen; they are creamy white, finely specked with buff or pale brownish. Size 1.25 × .95. [Illustration 178: Reddish buff.] [Illustration: Mountain Partridge. Scaled Partridge.] [Illustration: Creamy white.] [Illustration: right hand margin.] Page 177 293a. CHESTNUT-BELLIED SCALED QUAIL. _Callipepla squamata castanogastris._ Range.--Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas and southward into Mexico.