BOB-WHITES AND QUAILS 



if any, iiiigr;Uioii. This bird cannol adapt itself 

 to civilization as well as the Valley yuail hut 

 disiippcars before the advance of seltlenient and 

 should be assiduously protected because of its 

 beauty and utility. Edward Howe Forbusii. 



The food of the Mountain Quail of the arid 

 regions has been studied in the laboratory of the 

 United States Biological Survey. The stomachs 



examined, IweiUy-three in number, were collected 

 in California. The food consisted of animal 

 matter 3 per cent., and vegelalile matter 97 per 

 cent. The vegetable food consisted of grain, 

 18.20 per cent. ; seeds, practically all of weeds or 

 other worthless plants, 46.61 per cent. ; fruit, 

 8. II per cent.; and miscellaneous vegetable mat- 

 ter, 24.08 per cent. The grain included uheat, 

 corn, barley, and oats. (Judd.) 



SCALED QUAIL 



Callipepla squamata squamata ( Vigors) 



A. (), V. Nuinlier 29J 



Other Names. — Blue Quail ; Cotton Top. 



Description. — Length, 95/. inches. Crest short, not 

 entirely distinct from crown-feathers. General color, 

 fine bhiish-ash, more bluish on throat and neck, whiter 

 on abdomen which is tinged with brown centrally; head 

 and the full broad crest of soft blended brown 

 feathers tipped with pure white; feathers of neck all 

 around, upper breast, and upper back, sharply edged 

 with crescentic lines of black; exposed surface of 

 wing tinged with light ocher brown, the inner second- 

 aries strongly edged with butT, forming a lengthwise 

 stripe; side feathers, bluish-ash, each feather with a 

 white stripe bordered on both sides with brown ; rest 



of under parts, a blending of rusty or pale brown with 

 elongated arrowhead or heart-shaped darker spots ; 

 bill, dusky ; legs, brownish-horn ; iris, dark brown. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: A slight hollow scooped 

 out of the sand under the protection of a clump of 

 weeds or grass ; lined with a few leaves or coarse 

 grasses. Eccs : 8 to 16, creamy or pale buflfy-white, 

 minutely speckled with a darker shade of buff or shades 

 of brown, distributed regularly over entire surface. 



Distribution. — From central Arizona to western 

 Te.xas, north to southern Colorado and over most of 

 the Panhandle of Texas, cast nearly to central Texas, 

 and south to the valley of Mexico. 



The Scaled Quail and the Chestnut-bellied 

 Scaled Quail ( Callipepla squamata castanogas- 

 tris ) are two excellent wild food birds, identi- 

 cal in appearance save that the last named has 

 a chestnut patch on the belly. The birds are 

 found in the Rio Grande valley, Texas, and 

 northern Mexico; the first named form is found 

 also in New Mexico, southern Arizona and the 

 valley of Mexico. Like the other western birds, 

 they are runners. An observer who once had a 

 flock in his room for a time says : " The speed 

 they made when they started on a course around 

 the room against the wall was most remarkable. 

 I wotdd have backed them against the fastest 

 Gambels or Valley Quails that ever ran on a 

 desert or prairie." The countrv inhabited often 

 is full of thorns which jjrevcnt the use of dogs 

 and render the shooting comparatively uninter- 

 esting. Natural foods undoubtedly are suffi- 

 ciently plentiful in most parts of their range, 

 since the birds once were very plentiful. The 

 control of their enemies would seem to be all 

 that is necessary to perpetuate these birds. 



Two or three broods are reared in a season, the 



Photo by R. W. Shufelrtt 



SCALED QUAIL 

 Adult male in breeding plumage tfrom life) 



