gambel's quail 83 



Texas (Eagle Springs and Fort Clark) ; and southeastern Sonora 

 (Camoa). South to southern Sonora (Camoa and Guaymas) ; and 

 northern Lower California (Laguna Salada). West to northern 

 Lower California (Laguna Salada and Signal Mountain) ; and 

 southern California (Calexico, Pelican Lake, Agua Dulce, Palm 

 Springs, and rarely Los Angeles). Some of the northern localities, 

 such as those in Utah, may possibly be the result of introductions 

 in contiguous areas. Bryant (1889) states that " a few pairs with 

 small young were seen " on the western side of Lower California 

 at about latitude 30° N., but it is likely that the birds seen were 

 San Quintin quail (L. c. plumbea). There is one record of the oc- 

 currence of gambeli at San Diego, Calif., where a female was found 

 (1924) mated with a male valley quail (L. c. vallicola). 



It is difficult to outline the natural range of this quail, since it has 

 been transplanted extensively. For example, they were found rather 

 commonly at Furnace Creek, Death Valley, having been introduced 

 there from Resting Springs, Calif., by the borax company. They 

 are easily trapped and for this reason probably have been favorites 

 in many ill-advised projects. In the early nineties they were intro- 

 duced into Massachusetts (Marthas Vineyard). Other eastern ex- 

 periments were made in Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Naturally, 

 all these were failures, as were also introductions in northern Cali- 

 fornia and Washington. 



They were, however, successfully acclimated on San Clemente 

 Island, Calif., and there have been several successful introductions 

 well outside the normal range in Arizona (Snowflake, Holbrook, 

 Vernon, and Colfax Counties) and New Mexico (Cortez, Gallup, 

 San Juan Valley, and Huntington). A successful introduction also 

 is reported from Montana (Blue Creek, near Billings). The most 

 remarkable achievement, however, is the transplantation of these 

 birds to western Colorado. About 1,000 birds from southern Cali- 

 fornia (which locality gave rise to the name " California quail," 

 under which they have appeared in the literature on Colorado birds) 

 were liberated at Montrose in 1885 or 1889. From that point the 

 birds have increased and spread over the Uncompahgre Plateau 

 and the valleys of the Grand and Gunnison Rivers. Because of 

 plumage changes that have taken place since the introduction, they 

 have been described as a subspecies (L. g. sanus). There is no defi- 

 nite record of the natural occurrence of Gambel's quail anywhere 

 in Colorado. 



Egg dates. — Arizona: 68 records, March 19 to September 20; 34 

 records, April 20 to May 29. California: 8 records, March 26 to 

 June 2. 



