118 GROUSE, PARTRIDGES, QUAILS, ETC. 



these handsome birds. It stood, marvelous to relate, upon a fence- 

 post by the road, and, as we passed, its long plume and rich banded 

 sides stood out more clearly than in a museum show-case. Even 

 that exhibition, though it had such a casual air, we more than sus- 

 pected was to hold our attention while a surprised family got to 

 cover. But though plumiferus vouchsafed us so little of its society, 

 the mountains seemed alive with its fleeing broods. In July the 

 young changed from balls of down with brown stripes along their 

 backs to well-feathered chicks, who essayed to fly with the best of 

 their elders. Twenty-one of these stubby-crested fledgelings started 

 up and trained across the road almost under our horses' noses one 

 day by Donner Lake, with only two old birds in evidence, but these 

 were probably joint mothers of the flock. From Donner to the 

 Yosemite a glimpse of dark whirring forms vanishing through the 

 trees was so common that at night we often asked ourselves, "How 

 many broods have we seen to-day ? " The clear pipe, and the hur- 

 ried warning of the old guardian, kah, kah, kali, there 's danger near, 

 there 's danger ne'ar, the low conversational notes of a family when 

 undisturbed, and the motherly cluck and soft quieting talk of the 

 old bird to her brood were so often in our ears that now, as we look 

 back, they give life and richness to the memory of the majestic 

 Sierra forest. 



GENUS CALLIPEPLA. 



General Characters. — Tail more than two thirds as long as wing* ; bill 

 small and weak ; crest short and not distinctly separated from feathering 

 of crown ; sexes essentially alike. 



KEY TO ADULT MALES. 



1. Belly buffy squamata, p. 118. 



1'. Belly with chestnut patch castanogastris, p. 119. 



293. Callipepla squamata {Vig.). Scaled Partridge. 



Adults. — Plumage pale, bluish gray and dull brownish ; head and 

 short, full crest fawn-colored, crest tipped with white ; most of under j^arts 

 and fore jjarts of back appearing scaled ; bluish gray of anterior under parts 

 changing to huffy on belly, sides dark gray streaked with white ; posterior 

 upper parts plain bluish gray, with conspicuous white stripe on each side 

 of back. Young : upper parts marked with black bars and white mesial 

 streaks ending in triangular spots at tips of feathers ; breast brownish, 

 with white triangular streaks, sides barred with brown. Length : 9.50- 

 12.00, wiug 4.50-5.00, tail about 4.10-4..50. 



Distribution. — Resident in Upper and Lower Sonoran zones from Ari- 

 zona to western Texas and south to valley of Mexico. 



Nest. — On the ground, often under shelter of a yucca or low bush, some- 

 times in grain-field or meadow. Eggs : 9 to 16, wliite to buff, uniformly 

 spotted with buffy to reddish brown. 



Food. — Small beetles, ants, grasshoppers, and small seeds, grain, "ber- 

 ries, and plant tops. 



