118 GROUSE, PARTRIDGES, QUAILS, ETC. 
these handsome birds. It stood, marvelous to relate, upon a fence- 
post by the road, and, as we passed, its long plume and rich banded 
sides stood out more clearly than in a museum show-case. Even 
that exhibition, though it had such a casual air, we more than sus¬ 
pected was to hold our attention while a surprised family got to 
cover. But though plumiferus vouchsafed us so little of its society, 
the mountains seemed alive with its fleeing broods. In July the 
young changed from balls of down with brown stripes along their 
backs to well-feathered chicks, who essayed to fly with the best of 
their elders. Twenty-one of these stubby-crested fledgelings started 
up and trained across the road almost under our horses’ noses one 
day by Donner Lake, with only two old birds in evidence, but these 
were probably joint mothers of the flock. From Donner to the 
Yosemite a glimpse of dark whirring forms vanishing through the 
trees was so common that at night we often asked ourselves, “ How 
many broods have we seen to-day ? ” The clear pipe, and the hur¬ 
ried warning of the old guardian, kali, kali , kali , there’s danger ne'ar, 
there’s danger ne'ar , the low conversational notes of a family when 
undisturbed, and the motherly cluck and soft quieting talk of the 
old bird to her brood were so often in our ears that now, as we look 
back, they give life and richness to the memory of the majestic 
Sierra forest. 
GENUS CALLIPEPLA. 
General Characters. — Tail more than two thirds as long as wing; bill 
small and weak ; crest short and not distinctly separated from feathering 
of crown; sexes essentially alike. 
KEY TO ADULT MALES. 
1 . Belly huffy. squamata, p. 118. 
1'. Belly with chestnut patch. castanogastris, p. 119. 
293. Callipepla squamata ( Vig.). Scaled Partridge. 
Adults. — Plumage pale, bluish gray and dull brownish; head and 
short, full crest fawn-colored, crest tipped with white ; most of under parts 
and foreparts of back appearing scaled ; bluish gray of anterior under parts 
changing to huffy on belly, sides dark gray streaked with white ; posterior 
upper parts plain bluish gray, with conspicuous white stripe on each side 
of back. Young : upper parts marked with black bars and white mesial 
streaks ending in triangular spots at tips of feathers ; breast brownish, 
with white triangular streaks, sides barred with brown. Length : 9.50- 
12.00, wing 4.50-5.00, tail about 4.10-4.50. 
Distribution. — Resident in Upper and Lower Sonoran zones from Ari¬ 
zona to western Texas and south to valley of Mexico. 
.Nest. — On the ground, often under shelter of a yucca or low bush, some¬ 
times in grain-field or meadow. Eggs: 9 to 16, white to buff, uniformly 
spotted with huffy to reddish brown. 
Food. — Small beetles, ants, grasshoppers, and small seeds, grain, ber¬ 
ries, and plant tops. 
