64 BULLETIN 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Eggs. — The valley quail lays ordinarily from 12 to 16 eggs; large 

 sets of more than 20 eggs are sometimes found, but these may be the 

 product of two hens. They are short ovate in shape, and sometimes 

 rather pointed; the shell is thick and hard, with little or no gloss. 

 The ground colors vary from " cream buff " to " ivory yellow " or, 

 rarely, dull white. They are usually heavily marked and show con- 

 siderable variation. Some eggs are well covered with large blotches, 

 irregularly scattered; others are evenly covered with minute dots; 

 but there are many intermediate variations, and there is generally a 

 mixture of both kinds of markings on the same egg and several types 

 of eggs in the same set. An occasional egg is entirely unmarked. 

 The colors of the markings are dull browns, varying from " snuff 

 brown " or " cinnamon-brown " to " Isabella color." The measure- 

 ments of 77 eggs average 31 by 24 millimeters; the eggs showing 

 the four extremes measure 34 by 25, 32 by 26, and 28 by 23 millimeters. 



Young. — Mrs. Irene G. TVheelock (1904) writes: 



Incubation requires three weeks, and usually the hen alone broods the eggs, 

 after the young are hatched they are kept in the underbrush or heavy stubble 

 and can rarely be discovered, so expert at hiding are they. Like the California 

 partridge they run to cover rather than fly, and they are so swift-footed that 

 it is almost impossible to flush them. When the young are feeding, the adult 

 males constantly call them, either to keep the covey together or to give warning 

 of danger, and they answer each call with a faint piping note. This is not 

 unlike the scatter call of the Eastern Bob White, but consists of two syllables in 

 one tone, or one longer note. It is not unusual to come upon a covey of these 

 when driving through the foothills and valleys of Southern California, but the 

 sensation is simply of something scampering into the brush rather than a definite 

 sight of any bird, unless the cock comes out into view for a moment to sound 

 his warning and draw your attention from the brood to his handsome self. 



Bendire (1892) quotes William Proud as saying that only one 

 brood is raised in a season, that incubation lasts about 18 days, and 

 that " as soon as the young are hatched, they immediately leave the 

 nest, keeping under cover as much as possible. Should the brood 

 be disturbed, the old birds will run and flutter along the ground to 

 draw the attention of the dog, or whatever may have frightened 

 them, to themselves and away from the young. In about 10 days 

 these can fly a short distance." 



F. X. Holzner (1896) says: 



I walked unsuspectingly upon a bevy of Valley Partridges (Oallipepla cali- 

 f omica vallicola), consisting of an old male and female with about 15 young 

 ones. They were in a crevice of a fallen cottonwood-tree. On my stepping 

 almost upon them, the male bird ran out a few feet and raised a loud call of 

 ca-ra-ho; while the female uttered short calls, addressed to her brood. Seeing 

 me, she picked up a young one between her legs, beat the ground sharply with 

 her wings, and made towards the bush, in short jumps, holding the little one 

 tightly between her legs, the remainder of the brood following her. 



