reveals many darker, crescent-shaped marks on the neck and the forepart of 
the body, giving it a scaly appearance, whence its common name. There is 
also white streaking on the sides and buffy on the abdomen. All other 
native quail of the United States have either conspicuous dark or light 
markings on the upper parts or long, plumelike feathers projecting from 
the top of the head. Immature scaled quail have marks of GuUEOMs; -bavaek 
and white on the upper parts, and their crests are brownish. After the 
first molt they resemble the adults, 
The range of the scaled quail is restricted to the Upper and Lower 
Sonoran Zones throughout most of New Mexico, north to the Arkansas Valley 
of southeastern Colorado; east to southwestern Kansas, western Oklahoma, 
and western and southern Texas; south to southern wexico; and west to southem 
Arizona. In this great region three geographic races have been recognized, 
two of which occur in the United States. One of these, the Arizona scaled 
quail (Callipepla squamata pallida), is found from Arizona and New Mexico 
to Colorado, Oklahoma, western Texas, northern Chihuahua, and Sonora. The 
other, the chestnut-bellied scaled quail (GC. s. castanogastris), occurs from 
southern Texas to northern Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, and Coahuila. The range 
of the third and typical subspecific form, the scaled quail (C. s. sduamata), 
is confined to centrel and southern Mexico. 
scaled quail are partial to dry, open country in valleys, plains, 
or foothills thet have a mixture of bare ground, low herbaceous growth, 
and such brush cover as mesquite (Prosopis spp.), acacias (Acacia spp.), 
mimosas (Mimosa spp.), scrub oak (Quercus spp.), cacti (Opuntia spp., 
Echinocactus spp.), greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus), broomweed 
(Gutierrezia spp.), chamisa or saltbush (Atriplex spp.), tomatilla 
(Lycium spp.), ocotillo (Fougquiera splendens), and desert hackberry 
(Celtis pallida), and, in the foothills, juniper (Juniperus spp.) and 
pinon pine (Pinus edulis), They also take to pastures and cultivated 
fields near suitable cover and sometimes become tame around farm and 
ranch houses, 
Limited available field data indicate that a supply of drinking 
water is not necessary for the existence of scaled quail. They apparently 
can obtain all the water they need from their food and from dew. It seems | 
probable that the species will not survive conditions far outside its - 
native habitat. It apparently does not thrive in tall rank weeds, grass, 
and shrubbery as does the bobwhite, nor does it seem able to withstand 
cold weather. Trensplantings to the Northern or the Kastern States, 
therefore, are likely to fail. 
For a detailed life-history and game-management study of the 
sceled Quail, which is urgently needed, one of the first requisites 
is a knowledge of the bird's food habits. Effort has here been made 
to bring together all the important available information on the bird's 
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