Mat, 1893.] BIRDS OF THE DEATH VALLEY EXPEDITION. 



29 



have killed 8,400 quail at a solitary spring in the Temploa Moun- 

 tains. The men built a brush blind near the spring, which was the 

 only water within a distance of 20 miles, and as evening approached 

 the quails came to it by thousands. One of Mr. Nelson's informants 

 who saw the birds at this place stated that the ground all about the 

 water was covered by a compact body of quails, so that the hunters 

 mowed them down by the score at every discharge. The species was 

 common along the coast from San Simeon to Oarpenteria and Santa 

 Paula, in November and December. 



Record of specimens collected of Callijjejyla caUfornica vallicola. 



Col- 

 lector's 

 No. 



16 

 65 



140 



185 

 244 

 245 



72 

 357 

 358 

 35!) 

 376 

 377 

 404 



Sex. 



d ad. 



9 



? 



9 



d" 



9 



9 juv. 



d 



d 

 d 

 9 



JUV. 



d juv. 

 9 jiw. 

 d Juv. 

 9 juv. 

 9 Juv. 

 d JUV. 

 d im. 



Locality. 



Date. 



Cajon Pass, Calif ' Jan. 1, 1891 



Lone Willow Spring, Calif Jan. 16, 1891 



do Jan. 17,1891 



Panamint Mountains, Calif Mar. 26, 1891 



do Apr. 19,1891 



, do do 



do June 13, 1891 



Argus Range, Calif Jan. 2, 1891 



do do 



do Api. 27,1891 



Coso Mountains, Calif May 21, 1891 



do '....do.! 



Inyo Mountains, Calif ' J uly 1, 1891 



Owens Lake, Calif ! June 3,1891 



Walker Pass, Calif , . I July 1, 1891 



do I do 



do I do 



Kern River, Calif ! July 5, 1891 



.do. 



Three Rivers, Calif . 



do 

 July 28, 1891 



Collector. 



..R.Fisher 



..do 



!. W. Nelson 



l, R. Fisher 



1. W. Nelson 



..do 



..do 



".Bailey 



..do 



..R.Fisher 



..do 



..do 



!.-W. Kelson 



'. Stephens 



L.R.Fisher 



..do 



..do 



..do 



..do 



..do 



Pern arks. 



Johnson Canon. 

 Surprise Canon, 



1)0. 



Shepherd Canon. 

 Do. 

 Do. 



South Fork. 



Callipepla gambeli. Gamlbers Quail. 



GambePs quail is essentially a desert bird, though rarely found at any 

 great distance from water. It was first observed in winter by our party 

 at Furnace Creek, in Death Valley, where it was reported to have been 

 introduced by the Borax Company from Eesting Springs. A few young 

 were seen here June 19-21 by Mr. Bailey and the writer, and a female 

 shot for a specimen had an egg in the lower part of the oviduct. At 

 Eesting Springs, California, which is in the Amargosa Yalley, it was ex- 

 cessively abundant in February and furnished considerable food for the 

 party. It was so common among the mesquite and other brush that steel 

 traps set for diurnal mammals were often sprung by it, and in a few in- 

 stances quail were found in traps set in pouched gopher holes. A few 

 were seen at Ash Meadows, Nevada, in March. At the ranch in Pahrump 

 Yalley, Nevada, it was fully as abundant as at Eesting Springs and was 

 considered a great nuisance by the proprietor of the place, owing to the 

 damage it does to the crops. Mr. Nelson, who was alone in camp for 

 several days in this locality, gives the following notes on its habits : 

 "I noticed that when a flock of quail came to feed on grain left by the 

 horses, an old male usually mounted the top of a tall bush close by and 

 remained on guard for ten or fifteen minutes, then, if everything was 



