124 ALLEN'S naturalist's LIDRARY. 



usually taking an elevated position near the nest, where, with 

 crest erect, and tail spread, he bids defiance to all intruders, 

 uttering an oft-repeated ' whew-whew-whew.' When the brood- 

 ing hen leaves the nest to feed, should he be absent from the 

 post of duty, her cry of ' tobacco, tobacco,' very plainly given, 

 brings him up at once. In fact their call-notes are very varied. 

 I frequendy heard an old cock call out at night * ah-hooh, ah- 

 hooh,' the first note in a low key." 



Nest. — Generally a slight hollow scratched in the ground 

 and slightly lined. The situation varies greatly. The shelter 

 afforded by a rock, log, or old stump, small bush, bunch ot 

 weeds or grass, is usually selected, but occasionally a perfectly 

 open situation is chosen, and even trees are sometimes re- 

 sorted to, the fork formed by two large branches, or the up- 

 right end of a broken decayed limb being chosen as a site. 



Eggs- — Generally from twelve to sixteen in number, but some- 

 times many more are found, probably the result of two hens 

 laying in the same nest. Ground-colour creamy-white, some- 

 times buff, spotted and dotted, or blotched all over with 

 reddish-brown or olive-drab. Average measurements, 1*28 by 

 I inch. 



II. gambel's quail, lophortyx gambeli. 



Lophortyx gambeli\ Nutt. ; Gambel, P. Ac. Philad. 1843, P- 

 260; Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxii. p. 403 (1893). 



Callipepla veftusta, Gould, P. Z. S. 1846, p. 70. 



CalUpepIa gambeli, Gould, Monogr. Odontoph. pt. iii. pi. 1 7 

 (1850); Bendire, N. Am. B. p. 29, pi. i. figs. 11-14 

 [eggs] (1892). 



Adult Male. — Easily distinguished from the male of L. call- 

 fornicus by having the back of the head chestnut ; no white 

 spots on the back of the neck ; the chest-feathers with dark 

 shafts ; the middle of the belly black ; ?w black margins to the 

 feathers of the breast and belly, and the sides deep chestnut^ 



