Nesting of Gambel’s Quail in the 
Colorado Desert. 
Gambel’s Partridge (callipefla gambeli) 
is one of the very few game birds which in- 
habit the desert exclusively, and for this 
reason they are not likely to become exter- 
minated for a long time, as is the case with 
many others, for there are few sportsmen 
however ardent, who care to take a hunting 
| trip over the scorching sands of the desert, 
when game equally palatable is to be found 
at their very doors. 
It was my good fortune to take a trip over 
the Colorado Desert this spring, and for the 
first time in my life I saw the beautiful Gam- 
bel’s Quail at home. 
Starting from Julian, San Diego Co., Cali- 
fornia, we descended the east side of the 
{mountains, and after a day’s travel found 
ourselves on the edge of the desert. From 
here we traveled for three days over rocky 
and sandy roads and trails, until we arrived 
at Fish Springs, not far from the edge of the 
great Salton Sea, which caused so much anx- 
iety two years ago by threatening to, and in 
! fact it did, overflow its banks, and cover the 
tracks of the Southern Pacific R.R. and en- 
danger the works of the salt company at! 
Salton. The spring is a circular hole about 
thirty feet across and of unknown depth, the 
usual story of a bottomless pit being applied 
to it. It receives its name from the fact that 
in it live numbers of tiny fish from one to 
two inches long. The water is rather alkaline 
and impregnated with sulphur. 
The next day we entered the Mesquites, 
and here, for the first time, met the object of 
our search, Gambel’s Quail. 
We were first made conscious of the bird’s 
presence by hearing its familiar call. I say 
familiar, for it is very similar to that of the 
|i Valley Partridge, so common about home. 
I made off in the direction of the sound, 
i! and soon saw a pair of the birds run into a 
thick Mesquite bush. Any one who is fa- 
miliar with a Mesquite thicket will know why 
I did not follow. For the sake of those who 
are unacquainted with the plant, I would say 
that going through them is much like going 
through a thicket of briers with thorns an 
inch long, and thorns that will not bend or 
break either. They come as near being like 
a thicket of thorny locust trees as anything 
else I can think of. Well, I decided to go j 
around that Mesquite bush, and did so just 
in time to see one of the birds dive into the 
next. I fired at its retreating form, and was 
gratified at hearing a heavy fluttering under 
the brush. By crawling on hands and knees, 
I succeeded in pulling it out, a fine male. 
Soon afterward I killed a female, which, upon 
skinning, was found to contain a well-devel- 
oped egg. During the afternoon I succeeded 
in taking two specimens of Phainopepla 
( Phainopepla neteus ). 
That night we camped at Aqua Dulce 
(Spanish words meaning “ Sweet Water”) . I 
do not know why it is so called, for the water 
is only a little less salty and sulphury than 
the other watering places on the desert. 
As I was starting out, just at sundown, in! 
search of a suitable place to set my traps, 
for I was collecting both birds and mammals, 
I flushed a bird from beneath a small bush 
jabout a foot high. 
Examination revealed a depression in the 
ground in which rested eight creamy white 
eggs, blotched with brown and lilac. I left 
them undisturbed, hoping to find a full set 
and get the parent bird on my return. Two 
days later, when I again visited the spot, the 
eggs were as I left them and the parent no 
where in sight, so I was forced to take the 
incomplete set. This was on April 5, which 
I think is about the proper date to look for 
eggs of this species. 
At Walter’s station, on the Southern Pa- 
cific R.R., I found Gambel’s Quail quite 
plentiful and succeeded in taking four more 
specimens, which, with some taken on the 
home trip, made a total of nine skins, and 
one incomplete set of eggs the result of the 
trip. 
Gambel’s Quail is slightly smaller than 
the Valley Quail ( callipefla calif ormca 
vallicola) , with a brown crown instead of 
the ashen gray of the latter. On the breast 
is a heavy smoky patch which takes the place 
of the beautifully mottled breast of the Valley : 
species. The whole tone of the bird is lighter, 
the plume being nearly jet black. The spe- 
cies ranges in this State as far north as San 
Gorgonio Pass, where it hybridizes with the 
Valley Partridge. It also extends through 
Arizona and New Mexico, but always is found 
in the vicinity of water. Generally it is shyer 
than the Valley Quail, but I consider a week’s 
trip after them worth a month’s with the 
latter. Fred. W. Koch. 
Twin Oaks, California. 
0 <& O.Vol.18, Jy ne.1893 p.90-91 
