The Desert Quail 



Valley Quails, according to all accounts, are now greatly reduced 

 in numbers. A half century ago they existed in almost incredible num- 

 bers, and flocks of from one to five thousand were regarded as common- 

 places. In the old days, too, some destruction of grapes in the vineyard 

 was complained of. Even now isolated vineyards, especially if in the 

 hills and surrounded by chaparral, are likely to be plundered; but the 

 larger operators, the raisin growers of the central valleys, do not com- 

 plain, and it appears probable that the birds' consumption of weed-seed 

 and menacing insects far outweighs the damage done. 



The California Quail is noted for its hardihood, its versatility, and 

 its adaptability. I have seen a wounded bird swim and dive with great 

 aplomb. The species will maintain itself, if need be, in the depths of the 

 chaparral; or, if allowed, it will run over our lawns and take a friendly 

 bite with our chickens. Its recovery power is enormous. Whereas close 

 shooting will nearly devastate a country, protection will bring the birds 

 back in two or three years. Its fortunes are, moreover, closely involved 

 with the course of the weather. During unusually dry seasons the birds 

 do not attempt to breed. On the other hand, I am inclined to believe 

 that the quails do raise two broods in unusually favoring circumstances. 

 Apart from the weather, their fortunes are in our hands. No one of this 

 generation ever saw too many quails. Whether, indeed, they might be- 

 come a nuisance under a policy of absolute protection, I cannot tell, but 

 until they do, I submit that the esthetic worth of these exquisite, gallant, 

 and confiding fowls far outweighs their value as meat. 



No. 314 



Desert Quail 



A. O. U. No. 295. Lophortyx gambeli Gambel. 



Synonym. — Gambel's Quail. 



Description. — Adult male: General pattern of head, chest, and upperparts 

 much as in L. calijornica, but black of throat narrowly or scarcely bordered by white 

 below; black of forehead tending to displace buffy — entirely successful on forecrown, 

 where sharply defining white fillet, which in turn is carried a little further back; hind 

 crown and nape bright chestnut (Sanford's brown); crest a little longer, less sharply 

 recurved, and inclined to brownish; chest (narrowly), sides of breast, and cervix (broad- 

 ly, changing on upper back), and tail, slaty gray (Payne's gray), with a tendency to 

 darker shaft lines; the feathers on sides of neck and on cervix anteriorly lightly bordered 

 and distinctly ribbed with chestnut (but not marked with white); remainder of back, 

 wings and upper tail-coverts light brownish olive or buffy olive; stripe along inner 

 tertials creamy buff to whitish; pattern of underparts subsimilar, but without scaled 

 effect of feathers; sides, broadly, rich bay striped with white; lower breast, broadly, 



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