gambel's quail 79 



from "clay color" to "pinkish buff"; there is a broad band of 

 "russet," bordered with black, from the tiny topknot to the hind 

 neck, and a dark brownish auricular patch; the rest of the upper 

 parts is light " pinkish buff," banded lengthwise and blotched with 

 " warm sepia " ; the underparts are pale grayish buff. 



As with all other quail and grouse, the juvenal plumage begins to 

 grow soon after the chick is hatched, appearing first on the wings 

 and scapulars ; the topknot, or crest, appears at once, " hazel " at first 

 and then dull brown. In fresh juvenal plumage the feathers of the 

 mantle are variegated with " cinnamon," " pinkish buff," and black, 

 each with a broad, median, white stripe ; later these fade to gray, pale 

 buff, and dull brown; the scapulars have buffy edgings; the tertials 

 are at first " pinkish buff," later grayish, barred with dusky and 

 tipped with white ; the tail is grayish, barred near the tip with dusky, 

 dull whitish, and dull buffy ; the underparts are grayish white, faintly 

 barred with dusky; on the head, which is the last part to be feathered, 

 the forehead is dusky and the crown " mikado brown." In this 

 plumage the sexes are alike, and the birds closely resemble young 

 California quail of the same age. 



The birds are hardly fully grown and the juvenal plumage is 

 hardly complete before the change into the first winter plumage 

 begins on the back and wing coverts. This change is accomplished 

 by a complete postjuvenal molt, except that the two outer juvenal 

 primaries, and their coverts, on each wing are retained for a full 

 year. Otherwise the young birds are practically indistinguishable 

 from adults after the molt is completed in October, or later. 



Subsequent molts for old and young birds consist of a very limited 

 prenuptial molt in April and May, involving only the head and neck, 

 and a complete postnuptial molt in August and September. 



Food. — In the stomachs, collected from January to June, Dr. 

 Sylvester D. Judd (1905) found that less than half of 1 per cent 

 of the food consisted of insects, which included ants, beetles, grass- 

 hoppers, leaf hoppers, and stink bugs. Vegetable matter made up 

 99.52 per cent of the food; 3.89 per cent of this was grain, 31.89 

 per cent seeds, and the balance, 63.74 per cent, was made up of leaves 

 and shoots of various plants. The grain included corn, wheat, and 

 oats, much of which was probably picked up among the grain shocks, 

 where large flocks have been seen feeding with domestic poultry. 

 The seeds were largely those of leguminous plants such as alfalfa, 

 bur clover, and mesquite, and also of alfilaria, mustard, chickweed, 

 peppergrass, and atriplex. Succulent foliage and shoots form by 

 far the larger percentage of the food. Of this, alfalfa, bur clover, 

 and the foliage of other legumes constitute the greater part. Both 

 the green leaves and pods of alfalfa are freely eaten. In spring this 



