80 BULLETIN" 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



quail shows a fondness for buds, and in some localities its flesh has a 

 distinctly bitter taste due to a diet of willow buds. Certain kinds 

 of fruit also are eaten. 



Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (1905) say that during the summer 

 Gambel's quail feeds extensively on the berries of the nightshade. 

 Grinnell, Bryant, and Storer (1918) say: 



Evidence is also at hand that this quail, like many other desert animals, 

 feeds upon the fruit and seeds of certain kinds of cactus. Stomachs of Gam- 

 bel Quail collected along the Colorado River in the spring of 1910 contained 

 masses of mistletoe berries, and, at the time the mesquites were first coming 

 into leaf, quantities of the tender green foliage of this plant. 



It has been said that these quail can not exist very far from water, 

 to which they have to resort twice a day to drink, but Dr. Robert 

 C. Murphy (1917) found them abundant at all hours about his camp 

 in the Colorado Desert, which " was upwards of 20 miles from the 

 river, 7 miles from the miserable hole of the Tres Pozos, 10 miles 

 from the Laguna Salada, and an equal distance from the nearest 

 mountain 'tinaja.' The soil was ever}' where sandy and porous; not 

 a suggestion of moisture was to be detected even in the beds of the 

 deepest barrancas." He also says : " The crops of the specimens 

 taken early in April were mostly crammed with caterpillars of the 

 genus Hemileuca, assorted sizes of which were at that time march- 

 ing in legions across the desert." 



Behavior. — Gambel's quail is not so persistent a runner as the 

 scaled quail, but it is quite reluctant to fly and prefers to escape by 

 running very swiftly away among the underbrush. It does not often 

 squat and hide, as our bobwhite does, for this would be a poor way 

 to escape from its natural enemies. When it is forced to fly its flight 

 is swift and strong and often protracted to a long distance in the 

 open; in thick brush, which it largely frequents, it flutters rather 

 awkwardly away for a short distance; flocks separated in this way 

 soon begin to call and gather again. We found it not particularly 

 shy, especially among the mesquite thickets, where it probably felt 

 that it was not observed. About the ranches and farmhouses it 

 becomes very tame, often feeding with the domestic poultry. Dur- 

 ing the heat of the day it rests quietly in the scanty shade of the 

 mesquites, or under denser thickets, or even on the branches of leafy 

 trees. It comes out to feed and drink early in the morning and 

 toward night. It takes to the trees readily at any time and prob- 

 ably roosts in trees at night. When a flock of Gambel's quail is 

 feeding there is usually a sentinel on guard. 



Voice. — Cassin (1856), quoting from Colonel McCall's notes, says 

 of the voice of the male in June : 



A very good idea may be formed of his cry by slowly pronouncing, in a low 

 tone, the syllables " kaa-wale," " kaa-wale." These notes when uttered close 



