538 GAME BIBDS OF CALIFOL'XIA 



Marks for field identification — S<'(' uikIit XmIIcv l^uail ; jirobably not dis- 

 tinguishable except in liand. 



Distribution — Common resident on Santa Catalina Island, Los Angeles 

 County, to which island tliis race is restricted. 



It has been I'uiuored that quail from tlie mainland of California 

 have been introduced on Santa Catalina Island. But ''Captain" 

 James C. Johnston found quail already on the island when he located 

 at "Johnston's Harbor" (of maps) in 1859 (Grinnell, 1906a, pp. 

 264-265) ; he and the other sheep men on the island always considered 

 the birds to be native. If mainland stock has since been introduced, 

 we have no means of knowing what its effect on the native contingent 

 may have been. It is urdikely that the strangers would survive in 

 competition with the better fit native birds. The eggs of the Catalina 

 Island Quail have been described (Childs, 1907) as diifering some- 

 what from those of other quail in having the ground-color almost pure 

 white, with "specks and dots of brown, and large conspicuous yellow- 

 ish-brown blotches." The eggs described, ten in number, were taken 

 at Avalon, July 12, 1907, from a nest on the "ground near eucalyptus 

 tree and by a fence." 



The general natural history of the Catalina Island Quail is prob- 

 ably nearly identical with that of the Valley Quail. 



Desert Quail 



Lophortyx ganibeli Gambel 



Other names — Gambel Quail; Gambel Partridge; Arizona Quail; Callipepla 

 gamheli; Callipepla gamheli deseriicola. 



Description — Adult mole: Forehead finely streaked with black and buff, this 

 area bounded behind by a transverse white bar between eyes which turns back on 

 each side to continue over the ears to side of neck, this white bar bordered nar- 

 rowly with solid black; whole hind head solid reddish brown; crest with origin 

 just behind white bar on top of head, about one and one-half inches long, and 

 made up of six black club-shaped, recurved, closely over-lapping feathers; entire 

 throat jet black, outlined posteriorly by a well defined U-shaped border of white 

 running down each side of head from eye; ear region, between white bands, black- 

 ish brown, opening out onto gray of chest region; bill black; iris dark brown; 

 upper surface of body, including outer surface of closed wing, rump and entire 

 tail, pale ashy broAvn, becoming clear gray on hind neck and tail ; upper surface 

 also vdih fine shaft-lines of dusky ; lining and under surface of wing plain grayish 

 brown; inner webs of tertials and outer webs of secondaries edged mth bufty 

 white ; outer webs of primaries edged with gray ; elongated feathers of sides 

 bright chestnut, each with a medial streak of white; fore breast ashy gray con- 

 tinuous with hind neck; feathers of sides of neck and hind neck finely margined 

 with dusky and narrowly centered near tips with reddish broA\ni ; a black patch 

 or spot on fore part of belly, and between this and gray chest area, a broad, 

 clear, buffy band; hinder belly pale buffy white; flanks same color, Avith broad 

 shaft streaks of dull reddish brown; under tail coverts buff with grayish brown 

 shaft streaks; legs and feet dull gieenish gray; claws black. Total length 10.64- 



