Dr. E. Cones — Field Notes on Lophortyx gambeli. 55 



of the plume are cast very gradually, so that, though instances 

 do occur, it is unusual to find a bird entirely deprived of this 

 ornament. 



Compared with the eastern Quail (0. virpnianus) , from the 

 sportsman's standpoint, GambePs Plumed Quail is more difficult 

 to kill. Not that it rises with more startling suddenness, or 

 flies faster ; for I noticed no material difference in these respects. 

 But when a bevy is flushed, and one, or at most two birds se- 

 cured, it is exceedingly difficult, and usually only by chance, 

 that other shots are obtained. For, except under certain cir- 

 cumstances, they lie very badly ; and when they drop after 

 being for the first time started, it is not usually to squat and 

 remain hid, but to run as fast and as far as possible ; so that if 

 found at all, it will be dozens of yards from where they were 

 marked down. This propensity to run, which is also a great 

 obstacle to their being flushed within a proper distance, is ex- 

 ceedingly troublesome both to the sportsman and his dog ; so 

 much so, that the best-trained dogs can often be of but little or 

 no service. It is true that this habit of running affords many 

 shots on the ground, and often places the whole bevy directly 

 under fire ; but no true sportsman would thus ingloriously fill 

 his bag by " potting" a bevy of such noble game-birds. Like 

 all the tribe, their flight is exceedingly rapid and vigorous ; but 

 it is always even and direct, so that it only requires a very quick 

 hand and eye, and the usual intuitive calculation for cross-shots, to 

 kill them readily. Notwithstanding all that I have heard to the 

 contrary, I consider them far from being tough birds; and 

 No. 8 shot is abundantly large enough for them. The fault in 

 most cases, I presume, is with the shooter rather than the shot, 

 I may add that many of the places in which bevies are to be 

 found would compare unfavourably with the worst Woodcock- 

 brake of the Eastern States as regards facilities for obtaining a 

 fair shot. I have had a bevy flushed all around me, and hardly 

 caught a glimpse of a feather. But these and all other difficul- 

 ties should only increase one's ardour, and confer additional 

 value on the lovely birds when obtained. 



Fort Whipple, Ai-izona, 

 August 1st, 1865. 



