54 BULLETIN" 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



care of the young, but not in incubation. This lasts about 21 days." 

 Mrs. Bailey (1928) writes: 



That the downy young are also obliteratively colored is well illustrated by 

 an experience of Major Goldman when climbing the Florida Mountains. At 

 5,300 feet, among the oaks and junipers, he reports, " I came suddenly on an 

 adult bird and a brood of recently hatched young. The old bird disappeared 

 after giving several sharp cries of alarm, and the young also disappeared 

 in an open patch of short grass. On reaching the place I began looking about 

 carefully and soon saw one young bird flattened down, with not only its little 

 body but its head and neck also pressed close against the ground, its downy 

 plumage blending in well with the color of the ground and the dead grass stems." 

 There it lay, pressed close to the ground until approached within three feet when, 

 " it suddenly started up with sharp peeping cries, and the entire brood which 

 had scattered and hidden in an area about fifteen feet across, half ran, half flew 

 into some thick bushes where they were more securely hidden." 



Plumages. — In the downy young scaled quail the forehead, the 

 front half of the crown, in front of a little gray topknot, and the 

 sides of the head are " cinnamon-buff " or " pinkish buff " ; there is a 

 broad band of " chestnut " from the middle of the crown, back of 

 the topknot, down to the hind neck, bordered narrowly with black 

 and with broad stripes of buffy white; the auricular spots are dark 

 " chestnut " ; the chin and throat are buffy white and the rest of 

 the underparts are pale grayish buff; the back is mottled with pale 

 buff and " russet." 



The juvenile plumage starts to grow at an early age, beginning 

 with the wings; on a small downy chick, less than 2 inches long, 

 the wings are well sprouted; the wings grow so fast that the young 

 can fly long before they are half grown. The sexes are alike in 

 the juvenal plumage. In this the crown is " buffy brown " to " wood 

 brown " and the crest is " vinaceous-buff " ; the rest of the head, neck, 

 and shoulders shades off gradually to shades of drab; the feathers 

 of the back, scapulars, and wing coverts are from drab to "sayal 

 brown " or " tawny-olive," barred with " sepia " or brownish black, 

 finely sprinkled or peppered with brownish black, with conspicuous 

 median stripes of buffy white and with buffy edgings on the scapu- 

 lars ; the tail is mainly dark drab, but more buffy near the tip, barred 

 and peppered with brownish black; the underparts are buffy white 

 or grayish white, spotted or barred with dusky, most distinctly on 

 the breast, where many feathers are tipped with white arrowheads. 



The molt into the first winter plumage takes place during Sep- 

 tember and October. This is a complete molt, except for the two 

 outer primaries on each wing, which are retained all through the 

 first year. The molt begins on the back, breast, and flanks. Young 

 birds are practically indistinguishable from adults during the first 

 winter and spring except for the retained outer primaries. Both 

 first year and adult birds have a partial prenuptial molt early in 



