PLUMED QUAIL 47 



performed the usual tactics of feigning lameness, and tried his very best to 

 draw my attention away from the young, uttering in the mean time a shrill 

 sound resembling Quaih-quaih, and showed a great deal of distress, seeing I 

 paid no attention to him. The young, already handsome and active little 

 creatures, scattered promptly in all directions, and the majority were most 

 effectually hidden in an instant. As nearly as I was able to judge they num- 

 bered eleven. I caught one, but after examining it turned it loose again. 

 The feathers of the crest already showed very plainly. 



Dawson (1923) says: 



Not less uncanny nor less fascinating are the vocal accompaniments with 

 which a scattered covey of youngsters is coached or reassembled. If the little 

 ones are of a tender age and the need is great, the parent will fling herself down 

 at your feet and go through the familiar decoy motions; but if the retreat 

 has been more orderly, the parents clamber about, instead, over the rocks and 

 brush in wild concern. Once out of sight, the old bird says querk querk querk 

 querk, evidently an assembly call, for the youngsters begin scrambling in that 

 direction ; while another old bird, presumably the cock, shouts quee yatok, 

 with an emphasis which is nothing less than ludicrous. 



Plumages. — In the downy young a broad band of deep " chestnut," 

 mixed with and bordered by black, extends the whole length of the 

 upper parts, terminating in a point in the middle of the crown; 

 the rest of the upper parts, including the cheeks, are buffy or buffy 

 white, with large blotches of " chestnut " on the wings, thighs, and 

 flanks and with a dusky line behind the eye; the underparts are 

 grayish white or yellowish white, palest on the chin. 



The wings begin to grow almost at once, and the juvenal plumage 

 comes on very fast, while the chick is still small, 2 or 3 inches long. 

 In this plumage the scapulars, which appear with the wings, are 

 " clay color " or " cinnamon-buff," peppered, edged, and partially 

 barred with brownish black ; the crown and upper back are " hair 

 brown," the crown barred with dusky and the back mottled with 

 dusky and spotted with white; the crest is brownish black, barred 

 with brown; the wing coverts, tertials, and tail are pale buff, con- 

 spicuously patterned with black, washed with bright browns on 

 the wing coverts and tail, and peppered and barred with dusky on 

 the tertials ; the breast is " light Quaker drab," with white edgings, 

 becoming whitish on the throat and belly, and brownish on the 

 thighs and crissum. 



The juvenal plumage is worn but a short time before it is replaced 

 by the first winter plumage, which is acquired by a complete molt, 

 except that the outer pairs of primaries are retained for a full year. 

 The time of this molt varies greatly with the date of hatching. I 

 have seen birds in this transition stage at various dates from July 10 

 to September 27, and from less than half grown to fully grown. 

 In first winter plumage young birds are practically indistinguish- 

 able from adults, except for the outer juvenal primaries. 



