GAMBEL QUAIL (Lophortyx gambeli). 

 A handsome species found in arid canyons 

 and river bottoms of the southwestern states, 

 north to Colorado and east to western Texas. 

 In fall they gather into flocks sometimes 

 numbering fifty or a hundred birds, spread- 

 ing over the country to feed during the day- 

 time and returning to huddle together at 

 night. The experienced pot hunter or trap- 

 per can get quantities, but, hunted in a legal 

 and sportsmanlike way, it requires a lot of 

 hard fast work to make a fair bag. No 



> quail is more nimble of foot than these; 



they go through the mesquite and cactus 

 with a speed few men can follow. Yet if 

 one sits quietly down, he may often see num- 

 bers of them at close range, for unless they 

 are being hunted they are far from wild. 



They pair in February, at which time 

 much vegetation is in bloom, and during 

 March or early April sets of their eggs, 

 numbering about a dozen, may be found in a 

 slightly lined hollow beside a bunch of grass 

 or under concealing bushes; they are buffy- 

 white, with large spots of brown and laven- 

 der. The call of the male during the mating 

 and breeding season is a shrill cha-chaa. 



CALIFORNIA QUAIL (Lophortyx cali- 

 fornica calif or nica) . Of the same size, nearly 

 10 in. in length, as the last and differing as 

 shown. The curved feathers forming the 

 handsome crest are ordinarily carried in a single packet, but they can be 

 separated at will and thrown forward so that the first, or all of them, nearly 

 touch the bill. These birds are locally abundant in the humid regions of 

 the Pacific coast states. While they are shy 

 when hunted persistently, they are very 

 tame in parks where they are not molested. 

 MEARNS QUAIL (Crytonyx montezumce 

 mearnsi), otherwise known as Massena 

 Quail or "Fool Quail," this is the most strik- 

 ingly marked bird of which I know. It is 

 found in upper arid regions of Mexico and 

 north to Arizona and western Texas. 



GAMBEL QUAIL 

 CALIFORNIA QUAIL 



48 



