122 LAND BIRDS 
of any bird, unless the cock comes out into view for a 
moment to sound his warning and draw your attention 
from the brood to his handsome self. 
295. GAMBEL PARTRIDGE. — Lophorty« gambeli. 
Famity: The Grouse, Partridges, Quails, ete. 
Length : 9.00-10.00. 
Adult Male: Crest black ; forehead and throat black, edged with white ; 
crown chestnut; upper parts slate-color; breast gray ; belly buff, 
with black patches ; sides bright chestnut, streaked with white lines. 
Adult Female: Similar to male, but plainer; belly without black patches, 
and sides without white stripes. 
Young: Upper parts brownish gray, finely mottled black and white ; 
belly uniform white ; breast gray, striped with white. 
Geographical Distribution: Lower Sonoran zone from Western Texas to 
Southeastern California, and from Southern Utah to Mexico. 
Breeding Range: The desert region of California southeast of the Sierra 
Nevada. 
Breeding Season: April 15 to July 1. 
Nest: A slight depression in the ground, under a bunch of tall grass ; 
usually without lining. 
Eggs: 10 to 12; buffy, marked with brown and blotched with light 
purple. Size 1.27 X 0.98. 
Earuy in the morning during the months of March 
and April, the love note of the Gambel Partridge may be 
heard from the underbrush of the valleys and foothills 
of Southeastern California. So handsome, so confident 
in his wooing is he that he sounds it over and over, alike 
in the warm spring sunshine and the soft spring rain. 
And it is always answered by a demure little hen that 
comes stealing noiselessly through the mesquite to peep 
coyly at her lordly wooer. She admires him. Who 
would not, as he swells and struts before her, lowering 
his pretty crest, assuming such loverlike airs? And the 
