QUAILS, PARTRIDGES, GROUSE 



r293) Callipepla squam&ta 

 squamata 



IVigors) (Gr. beautifully arrayed; Lat., 

 scale-like). 



SCALED QUAIL; BLUE QUAIL. 

 A sombre-colored but handsome 

 species the c? of which is shown. The 

 feathers on the neck and breast are 

 margined with dusky, giving a scale- 

 like appearance. The female is duller 

 colored, the back being inclined to 

 brownish. L., 10.50; W., 4.50; T., 

 3-7S- 



Range — Ariz., N. Mex., western 

 Tex. and southern Col., southward. 



(293a) C. s. castanogastris 



Brewster (Ckeslnul-bdly) . 



CHESTNUT-BELLIED SCALED 

 QUAIL, Differs only in the chest- 

 nut coloring on the abdomen. Found 

 in southern Texas and southward. 



he knows they are good friends of his, for they destroy great 

 quantities of injurious beetles. The sportsman hears their 

 call and rejoices, for he thinks of the sport he is to have in 

 fall, with his dog and gun. 



During May, the coveys have scattered and are divided 

 into pairs, or perhaps some of the cock birds will have 

 several hens, for they are more or less polygamous. A 

 favorable spot is selected, perhaps along a stone wall or 

 beside an old rail fence, where the grass is tall and heavy. 

 An entrance is tunnelled out and the selected hollow in the 

 ground lined with dead grasses. In this improvised cradle, 

 a white egg, large and round at one end and pointed at the 

 other, is deposited daily until from eight to sixteen fill the 

 hollow. Sometimes as many as thirty are found in a single 

 nest, probably indicating that Sir Bob has more than one 

 wife. The eggs are always assembled neatly, with the 

 pointed ends downward. Should a nest be discovered, the 

 eggs must not be handled, for mother Quail will know it 

 instantly she returns and is very apt to desert them. 



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