436 PLTJMED QUAIL^ — LOPHORTYX GAMBELI. 



cbildreu aud grown folks are about equally agreeable, wliile half-fledged 

 people are apt to be more or less ofl^eusive. The bill is brii^^ht-reddish, 

 with the uuder mandible nearly white; the feet are flesh -colored ; the 

 head yellowish-white, with a pure brown spot on the nape, and a few 

 black feathers on the crown, eacU streaked with white; the upper parts 

 tawny or brownish-gray, mottled and clouded with black, and conspic- 

 uously streaked with long, narrow, sharply-i)enciled whited-white lines; 

 the primaries dusky, marbled with lighter and darker colors on the 

 outer webs; throat whitish; all other under parts with narrow, blended, 

 transverse bars of black and yellowish-white. The little things, in this 

 condition, are about 3h inches long, and may be found up to the last of 

 August, though by this time most of the summer's brood are partly 

 grown. When the chicks are six or seven inches long the general color 

 is dull, leaden-gray, becoming ochraceous on the scapulars and wing- 

 coverts, which are still mottled, as just described ; the chin and belly 

 are nearly whitish ; the breast still has a few longitudinal white lines, 

 but is mostly waved across with dark shades of gray ; the flanks become 

 tinged with brown, and the sides with fulvous, though, as yet, without 

 distinct white and chestnut stripes; th^ere is a broad white superciliary 

 line; the crest is brown, half an inch long. Progressing from this stage 

 to one nearly complete, birds occur, in September, October, and part of 

 ^November, with the bill black and feet dark colored; the crest an inch 

 long, and beginning to recurve; the white lines about the head of the 

 young males now apparent ; the sides rusty-brown, with traces of defi- 

 nite white stripes; black becoming evident on the abdomen; on the 

 breast, clear plumbeous feathers, mixed with light gray waved ones ; 

 the upper parts mostly clear plumbeous, but still somewhat waved and 

 marbled with pale gray. 



All Quail are Praxoces, as already explained; and the chicks of this 

 S])ecies are certainly precocious little things, if we may judge by their 

 actions when they are disturbed. They run about as soon as they are 

 hatched, though probably not "with half shell on their backs," as some 

 one has said. In a few days they become very nimble, and so expert in 

 hiding that it is difficult either to see or catch them. When the mother 

 bird is surprised with her young brood, she gives a sharp warning cry, 

 that is well understood to mean danger, and then generally flies a little 

 distance to some concealed spot, where she crouches, anxiously watch- 

 ing. The fledglings, by an instinct that seems strange when we con- 

 sider how short a time they have had any ideas at all, instantly scatter 

 in all directions, and squat to hide as soon as they think they have 

 found a safe place, remaining motionless until the reassuring notes of 

 the mother call them together again, with an intimation that the alarm 

 is over. Then they huddle close around her, and she carefully leads 

 them off to some other spot, where she looks for greater security in the 

 enjoyment of her hopes and pleasing cares. As long as they require 

 the ijarent's attention they keep close together, and are averse to fly- 

 ing. Even after becoming able to use their wings well, they prefer to 

 run and hide, or squat where they may be, when alarmed. If then 

 forced up, the young covey flies off, without separating, to a little dis- 

 tance, often realighting on the lower limbs of trees or in bushes, rather 

 than on the ground. As they grow older and strong of wing, they fly 

 further, separate more readily, and more rarely take to trees; and some- 

 times, before they are fully grown, they are found to have already be- 

 come wary and difficult of approach. As one draws near where a covey 

 is feeding, a quick, sharp cry from the bird who first notices the approach 

 alarms tlie whole, and is quickly repeated by the rest, as they start to 



