87 



that these birds ''apparently need to drink both morn- 

 ing and evening," is impossible for me to believe. 

 Our first camp in the antelope country southwest of 

 Pattie Basin, April 1-6, was upwards of twenty miles 

 from the river, seven miles from the miserable hole 

 of the Tres Pozos, ten miles from the Laguna Salada, 

 and an equal distance from the nearest mountain 

 * ' tina j a . " The soil was everywhere sandy and porous ; 

 not a suggestion of moisture was to be detected even 

 in the beds of the deepest barrancas. Yet Desert 

 Quail were abundant at all hours about our camp, and 

 male birds sat on selected perches in the big mesquite 

 and ironwood trees, and yelped by the hour^ not only 

 morning and evening, but often all night long as well. 

 A secret source of water in that country is almost as 

 much out of the question as a periodical excursion of 

 fourteen miles to and from the Tres Pozos. I think it 

 exceedingly likely that the quail in such remote parts 

 of the desert obtained their moisture in the form of 

 dew or of young and succulent leaves. 



The birds are commonly reported to sleep on the 

 ground after the manner of our eastern Bob-white. 

 In the bottom-land at the base of the Borrego Peak 

 of the Cocopahs, however, I found Desert Quail roost- 

 ing all night in the upper branches of large ironwood 

 trees. 



46. Zenaidura macroura marginalia. Western Mourning 



Dove. — Not uncommon, especially among the creo- 

 sotes and scattered mesquites along the cut of the 

 New River. They were usually seen in pairs, and 

 those collected were all breeding birds. A male, 

 whose crop was filled with mistletoe berries, was shot 

 on April 7 at the base of the Tina j a Mountains, south- 

 west of Pattie Basin. 



47. Scardafella inca. Inca Dove. — A few were seen by 



Rhoads in the upper Hardy River region. 



48. Gymnogyps californianus. California Condor. — One 



was seen by Rhoads from his camp on Mount Mayor, 

 Cocopah Mountains. 



