80 PETERS — A NEW QUAIL [ Voi.^IIl" 



Fifteen females: wing, 103-119 (110.73); tail, 82-101 (91.13); tarsus, 25.0- 



32.5 (29.6); bill, 15-17 (16.2G). 



Range. — Southern part of Lower California. 

 Specimens examined : — 



Lophortyx calif ornica vallicola. California: Eldorado County, 1 cf , 1 9 ; 

 Riverside, 9 cf , 4 9 ; Tulare County, 1 9 ; Sonoma County, 1 cf ; 

 Witch Creek, 8 cf ,4 9 ; Dulzura, 1 cf ; Palm Springs, 1 cf , 1 9 ; San 

 Bernardino Mts., 1 cf ; Recllands, 8 cf, 6 9. Lower California: 30 

 to 45 miles east of San Quentin, 3 cf , 2 9 . 



Lophortyx calif ornica achrustera. Lower California : San Jose - del Rancho, 

 8 cf , 4 9 ; La Paz, 13 cf , 8 9 ; San Jos<§ del Cabo, 5 cf , 1 9 ; Triunfo, 

 1 cf, 1 9 ; Cape San Lucas, 2 cf , 2 9 ; San Nicolas, 1 cf . 



Comparison with Lophortyx californica californica is not 

 necessary. 



The character which most readily distinguishes this well- 

 marked form is the paleness of the buffy patch on the lower 

 breast, but to appreciate its full value, specimens from Lower 

 California should be compared with California examples killed 

 at the same season; thus specimens of achrustera taken in 

 February and March have the patch cartridge buff as against 

 between light buff and warm buff for comparable vallicola, 

 while in birds killed from September to November it is cream 

 buff in southern Lower California specimens and warm buff in 

 California examples. 



The females of the two races may be distinguished by the 

 same characters which separate the males, but of course they 

 lack the buff patch. 



Mr. Brewster pointed out, 1 over twenty years ago, that birds 

 of the Cape region were paler than California examples, and 

 with bills averaging a little heavier, but did not believe that 

 these characters were either well marked or constant. While 

 the bill character is of no diagnostic value, the color characters 

 are constant and serve to distinguish the valley quail of south- 

 ern Lower California almost at a glance. 



i Birds of the Cape Region of Lower California, Bull. M. C. Z., XLI, 1902, no. 1, p. 76. 



