121 
GROUSE, PARTRIDGES, QUAILS, ETC. 
are-you-ah ? who-are-you-ah f strikes the ear as a subtle expression of 
the difference between the hot low¬ 
lands and the cool mountains. The 
lowland bird has two forms differ¬ 
ing slightly in color, the valley quail 
occupying the arid sections and the 
California the humid. 
The brushy parts of Golden Gate 
Park in San Francisco abound with 
quail, and from the benches one can 
watch the squads of plump hen-like 
little creatures as they move about 
with stately tread or stand talking 
sociably in low monosyllables. If 
they hear a footstep on the walk they 
start up and hurry across the path 
like hens before a wagon, top- 
knots dropped over their bills, necks 
craned forward, and legs stretched as they patter along in double- 
quick time. When less in a hurry they run in a stiff, prim way, the 
cocks with a dignified gait, the hens with a demure feminine air. 
Outside the parks, when the flocks are feeding the old quail act 
as sentries, to the wrath of young hunters, who complain that the 
cocks ‘tell on them’ ! 
As the country becomes settled, the former hordes of quail dis¬ 
appear, but they are still the game-birds of southern California, the 
roads are still patterned with their footprints, and through the val¬ 
leys they are closely associated with the charm of the mellow Cali¬ 
fornia days, their melodious who-are-you-ah? coming from the hill¬ 
sides in the cool mornings when the high fog is dissolving into blue 
sky, coming from the chaparral in the warm noonday hours, and 
echoing softly from the vineyards through the quiet golden sunsets. 
Fig. 19G. Valley Partridge. 
295. Lophortyx gambelii Gamb. Gambel Partridge. 
Adult male. — Crest black, forehead and throat black, bordered by white, 
crown reddish brown ; rest of upper parts 
plain bluish gray, tertials edged with 
white; breast gray, belly with buffy and 
blaclc patches, flanks reddish brown streaked 
with white. Adult female: similar, but 
without striking markings; head plain lg ’ 97, Male - 
brownish gray above, buffy streaked with 
darker on throat; belly uniform buffy, flanks 
chestnut. Young: chest brownish gray, 
streaked with white ; upper parts grayish 
brown, minutely mottled, feathers with lg< 8 ‘ ema e * 
white shaft streaks widening at tip and with black spot on either side; 
