482 NORTH AMEUICAN BIRDS. 



Mr. Xiuitus fount! this Quail bieodiiij,' in great abundance at C.ajie St. 

 Lucas. In one inslance ho Ibuml Ibiu' ogg.s uii tlio l)are .sand, under a pile 

 of driftwoud, wiUiout any trace of a nest. In .inutlier, tin-ee egys were 

 omul on the bare ground, uniler a fallen cactus. In a third case there were 

 nine eJ,',^•s, also laid on the bare j,'round, but in tlie siiade of a jasinine-busli. 

 Tliey were IVi'ijuently Ibund siieltered under jiilcs of driftwood. 



Tlie cii'i^s of this (^Juail are sultject to great variations in marking, and also 

 ditfcr sonuiwhat in size. They are siiarply pointiid at one end and rounded 

 at the otlier. One egg, measuring l..'!U in Icngtli by l.OU in breadth, has a 

 ground-color ol' a creamy white, freckled witli markings of a uniform shad- 

 ing of an olivaceous-drab, .\notlier, measuring 1.22 by .91 inches, has the 

 ground-color of the same, but the markings are larger and more contkient, 

 and their c(jlor is a rusty drab. A tliird is 1.18 by .\)i) inches ; ground-color 

 a creamy white marked by largo scattered spots of a chestnut-brown. 



Lophortyx gambeli, Gambel. 



OAHBEL'S QTTAIL. 



Lophortijj.: (jambcU, " Nutt.vi.l," O.v.Mlu:!., P. A. X. S. Philatl. I, 1843, 260. — McCall, 

 P. A. N. S. V, Juiip, 1851, 221. — lUiun, Birds N. Am. 1858, 045. — In. Me.x. U. II, 

 ninls, 22. — DliKssEl!, Ibis, ISGti, 28 (Uio GiiiiuU' to Nueces ; breeds). — CouEs, P. A. 

 N. S. ISGC, 94 (Fort Whiiiple, Arizona). — In. Ibis, 18(5(i, 4G (Imbits). — Okay, Cat. 

 Brit. Mus. V, 1807, 70. — IIkkh.m. P. K. W. U. X, C, 1». -In. X, 8, 60. — Cooi-Kit, 

 Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 553. CidlijK/ila (jamhili, Oouu), Mon. Odont. pi. xvii. — Cass. 

 Ulust. I, II, 1853, 45, 1)1. ix. Callipcpla vmiista, Goru), P. Z. S. XIV, 1846, 70. 



Sp. Char. Goin'r.!! color (jiiicreoiis ; abdomen plain whitish; inner or upper webs of 

 tertials broadly edired with white. Elongated Teathers of the sides bright chestnut with 

 a medial streak of white. 



Male. The a.sh on the breast of a bluish cast, and the whitish of the belly strongly 

 tinged with yellowisli-liulV, espeeiully anteriorly ; abdomen ',vith a black patch. Anterior 

 half of the head, and wiiolc throat, deep black, bonlered posteriorly with two broad, well- 

 defmed stripes of white, — the upper of these crossing the middle of the vertex and run- 

 ning backward above the auiiculais to the occiput ; the other beginning at the posterior 

 nngl(! of the eye and running downward. Vertex and occiput bright rufous, bounded 

 anteriorly and laterally with black. Crest of lilack elongated, club-shaped, and con- 

 siderably recurved feathers, springing from the vertex just behind the black bar, one and 

 a half inches long. Wing, 4.70; tail, 4..30 ; bill, .50 long, and .25 deep; tarsus, 1.1."); 

 middle toe, 1.1'). 



Female. Head jjlain grayish, without white, black, or ru'bus; no black on abdomen, 

 which also lacks a decided bull' tinge ; the cinereous of breast without bluish cast. Crest 

 dusky, less than one inch long. Wing, 4..')5 ; tail, 4.20. 



Young. Upper jiarts ashy l)rown. miinitely and indistinctly mottled tr.insversely with 

 dnsky ; scapulars and wing-coverts with white shaft-.streaks, the former with pairs of 

 dusky spots. Breast and sides with olisolete whitish bars on an ashy ground. 



Chick. Dull sulphur-yellowish; a verticid jiatch, and two parallel stripes .along each 

 side of the back (four altogether), black. (I)escribecl from Gray.son's plate.) 



Hah. Colorado Valley of the United States ; north to Southern Utah, and east to 

 Western Texas. 



