_Lophortyx gambeli_, “NUTTALL,” GAMBEL, P. A. N. S. Philad. I, 1843,
260.—MCCALL, P. A. N. S. V, June, 1851, 221.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
1858, 645.—IB. Mex. B. II, Birds, 22.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1866, 28(Rio
Grande to Nueces; breeds).—COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 94 (Fort Whipple,
Arizona).—IB. Ibis, 1866, 46 (habits).—GRAY, Cat. Brit. Mus. V, 1867,
79.—HEERM. P. R. R. R. X, _C_, 19.—IB. X, _S_, 60.—COOPER, Orn. Cal.
I, 1870, 553. _Callipepla gambeli_, GOULD, Mon. Odont. pl. xvii.—CASS.
Illust. I, II, 1853, 45, pl. ix. _Callipepla venusta_, GOULD, P. Z. S.
XIV, 1846, 70.
SP. CHAR. General color cinereous; abdomen plain whitish; inner or upper
webs of tertials broadly edged with white. Elongated feathers of the
sides bright chestnut with a medial streak of white.
_Male._ The ash on the breast of a bluish cast, and the whitish of
the belly strongly tinged with yellowish-buff, especially anteriorly;
abdomen with a black patch. Anterior half of the head, and whole throat,
deep black, bordered posteriorly with two broad, well-defined stripes of
white,—the upper of these crossing the middle of the vertex and running
backward above the auriculars to the occiput; the other beginning at
the posterior angle of the eye and running downward. Vertex and occiput
bright rufous, bounded anteriorly and laterally with black. Crest of
black elongated, club-shaped, and considerably recurved feathers,
springing from the vertex just behind the black bar, one and a half
inches long. Wing, 4.70; tail, 4.30; bill, .50 long, and .25 deep;
tarsus, 1.15; middle toe, 1.15.
_Female._ Head plain grayish, without white, black, or rufous; no black
on abdomen, which also lacks a decided buff tinge; the cinereous of
breast without bluish cast. Crest dusky, less than one inch long. Wing,
4.55; tail, 4.20.
_Young._ Upper parts ashy brown, minutely and indistinctly mottled
transversely with dusky; scapulars and wing-coverts with white
shaft-streaks, the former with pairs of dusky spots. Breast and sides
with obsolete whitish bars on an ashy ground.
_Chick._ Dull sulphur-yellowish; a vertical patch, and two parallel
stripes along each side of the back (four altogether), black. (Described
from Grayson’s plate.)
HAB. Colorado Valley of the United States; north to Southern Utah, and
east to Western Texas.
An adult male collected in Southern Utah by Mr. Henshaw of Lieutenant
Wheeler’s Expedition differs from all others which we have seen,
including a large series from the same locality, in having the abdomen
chiefly plumbeous, with a few cloudings of black, in the place of a
uniformly black patch. Except in this respect, however, it does not
differ at all from other adult male specimens.
HABITS. Gambel’s Partridge was obtained by Dr. Kennerly, near San
Elizario, Texas, and on Colorado River, California, by Mr. A. Schott,
and also by Dr. Kennerly. It was not observed by Dr. Kennerly until he
reached the valley of the Rio Grande, nor did he meet with any farther
west, in any part of Mexico, than San Bernardino, in Sonora. Though
closely resembling in its habits the Scaly Partridge (_Callipepla
squamata_), and in some instances occupying the same districts, he never
found the two species together.
According to Mr. J. H. Clark, this species was not met with east of
the Rio Grande, nor farther south than Presidio del Norte. Unlike the
_squamata_, it is very common for this species to sit on the branches
of trees and bushes, particularly the male, where the latter is said to
utter the most sad and wailing notes. They are so very tame as to come
about the Mexican towns, the inhabitants of which, however, never make
any effort to capture them. They only inhabit wooded and well-watered
regions, and are said to feed indifferently on insects or on berries;
in summer they make the patches of _Solanum_ their home, feeding on its
quite palatable fruit. When flushed, this Quail always seeks the trees,
and hides successfully among the branches.
Dr. Kennerly found this beautiful species in great numbers during the
march of his party up the Rio Grande. Large flocks were continually
crossing the road before them, or were seen huddled together under a
bush. After passing the river he met with them again so abundantly along
Partridge Creek as to give rise to the name of that stream. Thence to
the Great Colorado he occasionally saw them, but after leaving that
river they were not again seen. They are said to become quite tame and
half domesticated where they are not molested. When pursued, they can
seldom be made to fly, depending more upon their feet as a mode of
escape than upon their wings. They run very rapidly, but seldom, if
ever, hide, and remain close in the grass or bushes in the manner of the
eastern Quail.
From Fort Yuma, on the Colorado River, to Eagle Springs, between El
Paso and San Antonio, where he last saw a flock of these birds, Dr.
Heermann states he found them more or less abundant whenever the party
followed the course of the Gila, or met with water-holes or streams of
any kind. Although they frequent the most arid portions of the country,
where they find a scanty subsistence of grass-seed, mesquite leaves,
and insects, they yet manifest a marked preference for the habitations
of man, and were much more numerous in the cultivated fields of Tucson,
Mesilla Valley, and El Paso. Towards evening, in the vicinity of the
Mexican villages, the loud call-notes of the male birds may be heard,
gathering the scattered members of the flocks, previous to issuing from
the cover where they have been concealed during the day. Resorting to
the trails and the roads in search of subsistence, while thus engaged
they utter a low soft note which keeps the flock together. They are
not of a wild nature, often permit a near approach, seldom fly unless
suddenly flushed, and seem to prefer to escape from danger by retreating
to dense thickets. In another report Dr. Heermann mentions finding this
species in California on the Mohave desert, at the point where the river
empties into a large salt lake forming its terminus. The flock was wild,
and could not be approached. Afterwards he observed them on the Big
Lagoon of New River. At Fort Yuma they were quite abundant, congregating
in large coveys, frequenting the thick underwood in the vicinity of the
mesquite-trees. Their stomachs were found to be filled with the seeds
of the mesquite, a few grass-seeds, and the berries of a parasitic
plant. On being suddenly flushed these birds separate very widely, but
immediately upon alighting commence their call-note, resembling the soft
chirp of a young chicken, which is kept up for some time. The alarm
over, and the flock once more reunited, they relapse into silence, only
broken by an occasional cluck of the male bird. Once scattered they
cannot be readily started again, as they lie close in their thick,
bushy, and impenetrable coverts. Near Fort Yuma the Indians catch them
in snares, and bring them in great numbers for sale.
Dr. Samuel W. Woodhouse first met with this species on the Rio Grande,
about fifty miles below El Paso, up to which place it was extremely
abundant. It was by no means a shy bird, frequently coming about the
houses; and he very often observed the males perched on the top of
a high bush, uttering their peculiarly mournful calls. He found it
in quite large flocks, feeding principally on seeds and berries. It
became scarce as he approached Doña Ana, above which place he did not
meet with it again. He again encountered it, however, near the head of
Bill Williams River, and afterwards on the Tampia Creek, and it was
exceedingly abundant all along the Great Colorado. He was informed that
they are never found west of the Coast Range, in California. About Camp
Yuma, below the mouth of the Gila River, they were very abundant and
very tame, coming quite near the men, and picking up the grain wasted by
the mules. They are trapped in great numbers by the Indians.
This Quail is given by Mr. Dresser as occurring in Texas, but not as a
common bird, and only found in certain localities. At Muddy Creek, near
Fort Clark, they were not uncommon, and were also found near the Nueces
River.
Dr. Coues (Ibis, 1866), in a monograph upon this species, describes its
carriage upon the ground as being firm and erect, and at the same time
light and easy, and with colors no less pleasing than its form. He found
them to be exceedingly abundant in Arizona, and soon after his arrival
in the Territory he came upon a brood that was just out of the egg. They
were, however, so active, and hid themselves so dexterously, that he
could not catch one. This was late in July, and throughout the following
month he met broods only a few days old. The following spring he found
the old birds mated by April 25, and met with the first chick on the
first of June. He infers that this species is in incubation during the
whole of May, June, July, and a part of August, and that they raise two,
and even three, broods in a season.
A single brood sometimes embraces from fifteen to twenty young, which
by October are nearly as large as their parents. While under the care
of the latter they keep very close together, and when alarmed either
run away rapidly or squat so closely as to be difficult to flush, and,
when forced up, they soon alight again. They often take to low limbs of
trees, huddle closely together, and permit a close approach. The first
intimation that a bevy is near is a single note repeated two or three
times, followed by the rustling of leaves as the flock start to run.
These birds are said to be found in almost every locality except thick
pine-woods without undergrowth, and are particularly fond of thick
willow copses, heavy chaparral, and briery undergrowth. They prefer
seeds and fruit, but insects also form a large part of their food. In
the early spring they feed extensively on the tender fresh buds of young
willows, which give to their flesh a bitter taste.
This Quail is said to have three distinct notes,—the common cry uttered
on all occasions of alarm or to call the bevy together, which is a
single mellow clear “chink,” with a metallic resonance, repeated an
indefinite number of times; then a clear, loud, energetic whistle,
resembling the syllables _killink-killink_, chiefly heard during the
pairing-season, and is analogous to the _bob-white_ of the common Quail;
the third is its love-song, than which, Dr. Coues adds, nothing more
unmusical can well be imagined. It is uttered by the male, and only when
the female is incubating. This song is poured forth both at sunrise
and at sunset, from some topmost twig near the spot where his mate is
sitting on her treasures; and with outstretched neck, drooping wings,
and plume negligently dangling, he gives utterance to his odd, guttural,
energetic notes.
The flight of these birds is exceedingly rapid and vigorous, and is
always even and direct, and in shooting only requires a quick hand and
eye.
In his journey from Arizona to the Pacific, Dr. Coues found these birds
singularly abundant along the valley of the Colorado; and he was again
struck with its indifference as to its place of residence, being equally
at home in scorched mesquite thickets, dusting itself in sand that would
blister the naked feet, the thermometer at 117° Fah. in the shade, and
in the mountains of Northern Arizona, when the pine boughs were bending
under the weight of the snow. He also states that Dr. Cooper, while at
Fort Mohave, brought up some young Gambel’s Quails by placing the eggs
under a common Hen, and found no difficulty in domesticating them, so
that they associated freely with the barnyard fowls. The eggs, he adds,
are white, or yellowish-white, with brown spots, and were hatched out in
twenty-four days. The nest is said to be a rather rude structure, about
eight inches wide, and is usually hidden in the grass. The eggs number
from twelve to seventeen.
Captain S. G. French, quoted by Mr. Cassin, writes that he met with
this species on the Rio Grande, seventy miles below El Paso, and from
that point to the place named their numbers constantly increased. They
appeared to be partial to the abodes of man, and were very numerous
about the old and decayed buildings, gardens, fields, and vineyards
around Presidio, Isoleta, and El Paso. During his stay there in the
summer of 1851, every morning and evening their welcome call was heard
all around; and at early and late hours they were constantly to be found
in the sandy roads and paths near the villages and farms. In the middle
of the hot summer days, however, they rested in the sand, under the
shade and protection of the thick chaparral. When disturbed, they glided
through the bushes very swiftly, seldom resorting to flight, uttering
a peculiar chirping note. The parents would utter the same chirping
cry whenever an attempt was made to capture their young. The male and
female bird were always found with the young, showing much affection for
them, and even endeavoring to attract attention away from them by their
actions and cries.
Colonel McCall (Proc. Phil. Ac., June, 1851) also gives an account of
this bird, as met with by him in Western Texas, between San Antonio and
the Rio Grande River, as well as in New Mexico. He did not fall in with
it until he had reached the Limpia River, a hundred miles west of the
Pecos, in Texas, where the _Acacia glandulosa_ was more or less common,
and the mesquite grasses and other plants bearing nutritious seeds were
abundant. There they were very numerous and very fat, and much disposed
to seek the farms and cultivate the acquaintance of man. About the
rancho of Mr. White, near El Paso, he found them very numerous, and,
in flocks of fifty or a hundred, resorting morning and evening to the
barnyard, feeding around the grain-stacks in company with the poultry,
and receiving their portion from the hand of the owner. He found them
distributed through the country from the Limpia to the Rio Grande, and
along the latter river from Eagle Spring Pass to Doña Ana.
The same careful observer, in a communication to Mr. Cassin, gives the
western limit of this species. He thinks it is confined to a narrow
belt of country between the 31st and 34th parallels of latitude, from
the Pecos River, in Texas, to the Sierra Nevada and the contiguous
desert in California. It has not been found on the western side of these
mountains. Colonel McCall met with it at Alamo Mucho, forty-four miles
west of the Colorado River. West of this stretches a desolate waste of
sand,—a barrier which effectually separates this species from its ally,
the California Quail.
This species is known to be abundant in the country around the sources
of the Gila River, and has also been found along that river from the
Pimo villages to its mouth, and there is no doubt that it inhabits the
entire valley of the Gila. It was also common along the Colorado River,
as far as the mouth of the Gila, and has been met with in that valley as
high up as Tampia Creek, latitude 34°.
Colonel McCall regards this species as less wild and vigilant than
the California species. It is later in breeding, as coveys of young
California Quails were seen, one fourth grown, June 4, while all the
birds of Gambel’s were without their young as late as June 16. The voice
of the male at this season is described as strikingly rich and full. The
cry may be imitated by slowly pronouncing in a low tone the syllables
_kaa-wale, kaa-wale_. When the day is calm and still, these notes may
be heard to a surprising distance. This song is continued, at short
intervals, in the evening, for about an hour. Later in the season when a
covey is dispersed, the cry for reassembling is said to resemble _qua-el
qua-el_. The voice of this bird at all seasons bears a great resemblance
to that of the California Quail, but has no resemblance to that of the
eastern _Ortyx virginiana_. In their crops were found the leaves of the
mesquite, coleopterous insects, wild gooseberries, etc.
An egg of this species, taken by Dr. Palmer at Camp Grant, measures 1.25
inches in length by 1.00 in breadth. The ground-color is a cream white,
beautifully marked with ragged spots of a deep chestnut. In shape it
closely corresponds with the egg of the California Partridge.