MEARNS'S QUAIL 87 



Henshaw (1874) describes the following exhibition of parental 

 solicitude : 



August 10, while riding with a party through a tract of piny woods, a brood 

 of 8 or 10 young, accompanied by the female, was discovered. The young, 

 though but about a week old, rose up almost from between the feet of the fore- 

 most mule, and after flying a few yards dropped down, and in a twinkling were 

 hidden beneath the herbage. At the moment of discovery, the parent bird rose 

 up, and then, tumbling back helplessly to the ground, imitated so successfully 

 the actions of a wounded and disabled bird that, for a moment, I thought she 

 must have been trodden upon by one of the mules. Several of the men, com- 

 pletely deceived, attempted to catch her, when she gradually fluttered off, 

 keeping all the time just beyond the reach of their hands, till she had enticed 

 them a dozen yards away, when she rose and was off like a bullet, much to 

 their amazement. 



Plumages. — In the newly hatched chick the upper parts are varie- 

 gated with " cinnamon-buff," " hazel," " chestnut," and black, mostly 

 hazel and chestnut, fading out to white on the chin and throat and 

 to grayish white on the belly ; there is a broad band or patch on the 

 crown, of " hazel," bordered with chestnut, and an auricular stripe 

 of blackish brown. 



The juvenal plumage is acquired at an early stage. A small 

 young bird, only about 2!/2 inches long, is nearly covered above with 

 juvenal plumage; the wings reach beyond the tail, which has not 

 yet started ; the sides of the breast and flanks are feathered ; but the 

 head, neck, and center of the breast are still downy. This young 

 bird could probably fly. 



In this plumage the sexes are much alike, except that in the young 

 male the crissum, lower belly, and flanks are black, and the center 

 of the breast is suffused with brown, whereas in the young female 

 these parts are whitish; these characters are conspicuous in flight. 

 In both sexes the crown is " hazel " or " russet," spotted with black 

 and with some whitish shaft streaks ; the sides of the head are buffy 

 white, mottled with black and with a dark brown auricular patch; 

 the mantle is " tawny " to " ochraceous-tawny," barred heavily with 

 black and with broad buffy median stripes; the wing coverts are 

 ashy with rounded black spots; the primaries and secondaries are 

 banded with white spots; the throat is white, and the rest of the 

 underparts are pale buff, or grayish white, barred or spotted with 

 black and white. 



The juvenal plumage is worn for only a short time, for the post- 

 juvenal molt begins early in September and is prolonged in some 

 individuals through November. This molt is complete except for 

 the outer two primaries on each wing, which are retained during the 

 first year. The sexes now begin to differentiate rapidly, the brilliant 

 body plumage of the male and the " vinaceous-pink " breast of the 

 female replacing the juvenal plumage. 



