142 Birds of Colorado 



often far from water. In the autumn it forms small 

 coveys, probably several families joining together, and 

 thus remains till pairing time. 



Along the Arkansas Valley they are rather domestic 

 and keep near the farms all the winter, and often nest 

 in the gardens or close by. The food consists of about 

 30 per cent, insects, chiefly grasshoppers and beetles, 

 and 70 per cent, vegetable matter, principally weed-seeds, 

 but they undoubtedly eat a certain quantity of plant tips 

 and buds as well. 



The nest is placed on the ground and consists merely 

 of a slight depression lined with a little grass, but gen- 

 erally somewhat concealed by a bush or tuft of grass. 

 The eggs, usually eleven or twelve, are thick-shelled, 

 somewhat lustreless and sub-pyriform or ovate ; they 

 are white to pale buff, very finely marked, as a rule, 

 with pin-points of reddish brown. I have no nesting 

 dates for Colorado, but further south eggs have been 

 taken as early as April, and as late as September. 



Genus LOPHORTYX. 



Crown with a crest of several upstanding club-shaped, imbricated 

 black feathers at least an inch long, rather smaller in the female ; tail 

 normally of twelve, sometimes of ten or fourteen, feathers, about 4 

 the length of the wing. 



Three species and subspecies of this genus are found in the United 

 States and Mexico. 



Key of the Species. 



A. Lower-breast scale-like ; the edges of the feathers black. 



a. Occiput brown, separated from the whitish forehead by a 



black band. L. califomicus, S p. 143. 



b. Occiput and forehead dull brown. L. californicus, ? p. 143. 



B. Lower-breast bufiy -white, with a black patch on the belly. 



L. gambeli, J p. 144. 



C. Lower-breast and belly buffy-white, faintly streaked ; no black 



patch. L. gambeli, ? p. 144. 



