DESERT QUAIL- 539 



11.30 inches (270-292 mm.) (nine specimens) ; folded wing 4.34-4.52 (110.0- 

 114.7) ; bill along culmen 0.43-0.47 (10.8-12.0) ; tarsus 1.17-1.28 (29.7-32.4) 

 (ten specimens) ; weight 5.7 oz. (161.8 gm.) (one specimen). Adult female: Head 

 without the white, black and rufous found in the male, chiefly grayish brown, 

 streaked with dusky on forehead, sides and throat, more rusty brown on back of 

 head; crest about one inch in length, not so broad ended as in male; plumage other- 

 wise much as in male but black spot on belly lacking, and chestnut of sides paler 

 and less extensive. Total length 10.40-11.44 inches (264-290 mm.) ; folded wing 

 4.17-4.49 (105.8-114.0) ; bill along culmen 0.41-0.45 (10.3-11.5) ; tarsus, 1.14- 

 1.24 (29.0-31.5) (ten specimens); all from California. Juvenile plumage: Whole 

 of upper surface dull brown, minutely mottled transversely with dusky; scapulars 

 and outer surface of closed wing mth broad whitish shaft-streaks; wing and tail 

 feathers mottled in fine pattern with ashy brown and buffy white ; sides and 

 breast pale ashy brown ■with whitish bars. Natal plumage: General color dull 

 yellowish ; four parallel blackish stripes down back ; a dark brown patch on back 

 of head ; breast and sides washed with buffy ; \\'ings and flanks marked with dusky. 



Marks tor field identification — Similar to Valley Quail, as regards size 

 and crest, but general coloration much lighter ; male with back of head bright red- 

 dish brown, and with a clear buffy white band across lower breast, followed by 

 a conspicuous black spot on fore part of belly. Both sexes have the sides rich 

 chestnut, but no scale-like feather-tippings on the under surface of the body as 

 in the Valley Quail. 



Voice — A rapidly uttered series of syllables, each sounding like quoit or oit ; 

 call of male: yuk-l:de-ja, repeated (Bendire, 1892, p. 81). 



Nest — On ground beneath weeds or brush ; a slight depression, usually well 

 lined with grass, weed stems, and leaves. 



Eggs — 10 to 17, ovate in shape, measuring in inches 1.12 to 1.34 by 0.95 to 1.02 

 (in millimeters, 28.5 to 34.0 by 24.0 to 26.0), and averaging 1.24 by 0.95 (31.5 by 

 24.0) (Bendire, 1892, p. 34; and authors); in color white or creamy white, with 

 dots and irregular spots of dark purplish brown. 



General distribution — Arid desert regions of southern California, southern 

 Nevada, Arizona, and southwestern Utah, east to the southwestern corner of Col- 

 orado; also in southwestern New Mexico to the Eio Grande Valley and the 

 El Paso region of extreme western Texas; south into northeastern corner of 

 Lower California and to Guaymas, Sonora (A. O. IT. Check^list, 1910, p. 137). 



Distribution in California — Abundant resident locally, almost always in the 

 near vicinity of streams or springs, on both the Colorado and Mohave ' deserts. 

 Recorded north to Amargosa and Death valleys (A. K. Fisher, 1893a, p. 29) ; 

 west across the Mohave Desert to Hesperia (Thurber, 1896, p. 265), on the Col- 

 orado Desert to the north flank of the Santa Eosa Mountains (Grinnell and 

 Swarth, 1913, p. 232), and through San Gorgonio Pass to Banning, Riverside 

 County (Gilman, 1907, p. 148). Recorded casually or as a result of escape from 

 captivity, from Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and other points on the Pacific 

 slope of southern California. Along the westei-n edge of its range, this quail 

 occurs at many points on common ground with the Valley Quail, and hybridization 

 is known to occur. 



The distribution of the Desert or Gambel Quail is closely limited 

 to the deserts of the southwest. It is to be found from extreme south- 

 ern Colorado and the western extremity of Texas westward to south- 

 ern Nevada, southeastern California and northeastern Lower Cali- 



