GAMBEL'S PAKTKIDGE. * 3£ 



place to place. This note resembled the grunting of a sucking pig more 

 than anything else, and it is ratlier difficult to reproduce the exact sound in 

 print. Any of the following syllables resembles it, "quoit," "oit," "woet," 

 uttered rapidly but in a low tone. During the mating and breeding season, 

 the former commencing usually in the latter part of February, the latter 

 about the first week in April and occasionally later, according to the season, 

 the male frequently utters a call like "yuk-kiie-ja, yuk-k;ie-ja," each syllable 

 distinctly articulated and the last two somewhat th-awn out. A trim, hand- 

 some, and proud-looking cock, whose more somber-colored mate had a nest 

 close by, used an old mes([uite stump, about 4 feet high, and not more than 

 20 feet from my tent, as his favorite perch, and I had many excellent oppor- 

 tunities to watch him closely. Standing perfectly erect, with his beak straight 

 up in the air, his tail slightly spread and wings somewhat drooping, he uttered 

 this cidl in a clear strong voice every few minutes for half an hour or so, or 

 until disturbed by something, and this he repeated several times a day. I 

 consider it a call of challenge or of exultation, and it was taken up usuallv 

 by any other male in the vicinity at the time. During the mating season the 

 males fight each other persistently, and the victor defends his chosen home 

 against intrusion with nnich valor. It is a pleasing and interesting sight to 

 watch the male courting his mate, uttering at the time some low cooing notes, 

 and strutting around the coy female in the most stately manner possible, bow- 

 ing his head and making his obeisance to her. While a handsome bird at all 

 times, he certainly looks his best during this love-making period. The alarm 

 note is a sharp discordant "criifer, crti^r," several thnes rapidly repeated, and 

 is usually uttered by the entire covey almost simultaneously. Although they 

 nested abundantly in close i)roximity to my camp, I saw but a single brood 

 of birds that were probalily not more than a day or two old. Small as these 

 were, tliey nevertheless managed to run and hide so quickly in the under- 

 growth in which I found them that I foiled to catch one for closer examina- 

 tion. The lien tried to draw me away by the usual devices, and showed 

 considerable anxiety. Half-grown birds were much more frequently met with 

 by me, and not until they are well able to fly do they make excursions in 

 the more open country, away from the tangled undergrowth and vine-cov- 

 ered chaparral of the creek bottoms. Their food, like that of the other 

 species of this genus, consists of insects of various kinds, especially grass- 

 hoppers and ants, small seeds, grain when obtainable, the tender leavea and 

 buds of leguminous plants, and berries. In the early fall and winter they 

 pack, and from two to five liundred may, at times, be met with on favorite 

 feeding gTounds. 



During the intense heat of the Arizona summers Gambel's Quail, like 

 most other birds, prefers to remain in the shady and cool spots in the creek 

 bottoms, frequently perching in the trees, and I believe the majority of these 

 birds spend the nights in them as well. They take to trees very readily at 

 all times. The nesting season of 1872, compared wath subsequent ones, was 



