68 GAME BIEDS OF CALIFORNIA 



The specimen in hand has the area between bill and eye fully 

 feathered and therefore belongs in 3'. Next: 



4. Wing more than 17.00 inches (430 mm.) long; bill more than 3.00 (76 mm). 

 4'. Wing less than 13.00 inches (328 mm.) long. 



The short wing of our bird places it in group 4'. Then : 



5. Bill "chicken-like," never more than one-third as long as head (except 



in King-necked Pheasant); tip of upper mandible curved abruptly 

 downward, covering, tip of lower mandible. 



Pheasant, Quails, and Grouses. 

 5'. Bill never ' ' chicken-like, ' ' always more than one-third as long as head, 

 and tip of lower mandible never covered. 



The short bill on the bird being identified, places it in group 5. 

 Turning to the key for the Pheasant, Quails and Grouses, we proceed, 

 beginning there with 1 and 1' again : 



1. Wing more than 6.00 inches (152 mm.) long. 



1'. Wing less than 6.00 inches (152 mm.) long; tarsus never feathered. 



Our specimen has a wing less than 6.00 inches long and an un- 

 feathered tarsus and hence goes under 1'. Continuing: 



7. Head with a straight, slender, tapering plume more than 2.00 inches (51 



mm.) long; flanks rich chestnut brown broadly barred with black and 



white; throat brown in males. 

 7'. Head with a short, curved, broad-ended plume, less than 1.50 inches (38 



mm.) long; flanks without black and white barring; throat black in 



males. 



Our bird belongs under 7', as it has a short plume and black 

 throat. Then : 



9. No scale-like markings on belly, etc. 



9'. Forepart of belly scaled with narrow blackish cross-bars, etc. 



Evidently our bird comes under 9'. Then: 



10. Ground color of upper surface and flanks deep olive brown. 



California Quail, 

 10'. Ground color of upper surface and flanks grayish brown. 



11. Smaller: wing averaging less than 4.35 inches (110 mm.) long. Mainland 



species. Valley Quail. 



ir. Larger: wing averaging more than 4.35 inches (110 mm.) long. On 



Santa Catalina Island only. Catalina Island Quail. 



Our bird shows a grayish rather than olive tinge on the back, so 

 we have a Valley Quail. Such characters as the last (under 10 and 

 11) are often difficult of determination and in the absence of speci- 

 mens of both races for comparison dependence must be placed upon 

 the locality of capture of the bird. After finding a name for any 

 specimen by use of the key, reference should always be made to the 

 full description of the species so as to verify the determination. 



