Painted

1911

Published

1930

Volume

5

Plate

295

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Gambel Quail

Lophortyx gambelii

DESCRIPTION

(T. Gilbert Pearson)

One November evening as the sun went down I found myself in camp by a group of water-holes far up in a desert canyon of the Santa Catalina Mountains of Arizona. I was alone, my guide having gone back several miles to look for the third member of the party whose absence had caused some uneasiness. I was sitting on a bowlder enjoying the wild unusual surroundings when I was startled by a low Cha-Chea, Cha-Chea, which came from the little thicket behind me. This was followed at once by another call of a like nature, then another and another. I had no idea as to the nature of the language or from whom it emanated. Throwing over me the rotting remains of an old tent cover lying near I crouched among the bowlders and waited. The calls increased in number, the soapweed seemed filled with them and then suddenly out stepped a splendid GAMBEL'S QUAIL, the first I had ever seen. Its long head-plume waved gradually as it advanced. Quickly others appeared and before long there before me, not twenty feet away, more than forty birds rimmed the edge of the water-hole. After a day spent in the desert they had come to the only place for miles around where water could be found in order to drink before going to roost. In a few minutes they began flying up into one of the few stunted scrubby trees which grew in the canyon. So intent had I been watching them that I failed to note a second company nearly as large which had come to another water-hole perhaps twenty yards away. But this was not all. They continued to arrive until fully two hundred had taken up their quarters for the night in the scrubby trees around our camp. Now and then there was a flutter as some bird changed its perch. There was also much conversation after they had settled for the night, just as other folk are sometimes known to talk after going to bed. Later I met them many times on the desert and watched them as with low words of caution they ran from the cover of one creosote bush or cactus plant to another. It was rare that I saw them take wing; even when the guide one day declared that he proposed to vary our diet of peccary and bacon that night with a mess of broiled Quail, and began to shoot them, the survivors preferred to trust their legs rather than their wings while in quest of safety.

BREEDING

NEST: a hollow in ground, under brush or grass shelter.

EGGS: 10 to 12. White or buff irregularly speckled and blotched with shades of brown and lavender.

RANGE

Desert region of southern California, southern Nevada, Arizona and southwestern Utah. East to southwestern Colorado, New Mexico and Rio Grande Valley and El Paso region of western Texas.

gambel-quail
bobwhite
Bobwhite
289
florida-bobwhite
Florida Bobwhite
289a
texas-bobwhite
Texas Bobwhite
289b
masked-bobwhite
Masked Bobwhite
291
mountain-quail
Mountain Quail
292
plume-quail-san-pedro-quail
Plume Quail, San Pedro Quail
292a-292b
scale-quail
Scale Quail
293
chestnutbelly-scale-quail
Chestnutbelly Scale Quail
293a
california-quail
California Quail
294
valley-quail
Valley Quail
294a
gambel-quail
Gambel Quail
295
mearns-quail
Mearns Quail
296
dusky-grouse
Dusky Grouse
297
richardson-grouse-sierra-grouse
Richardson Grouse, Sierra Grouse
297b-297c
hudsonian-spruce-grouse
Hudsonian Spruce Grouse
298
alaska-spruce-grouse
Alaska Spruce Grouse
298b
franklin-grouse
Franklin Grouse
299
ruffed-grouse
Ruffed Grouse
300
canada-ruffed-grouse-gray-ruffed-grouse
Canada Ruffed Grouse, Gray Ruffed Grouse
300a-300b
oregon-ruffed-grouse
Oregon Ruffed Grouse
300c
willow-ptarmigan
Willow Ptarmigan
301
allen-ptarmigan-alexander-ptarmigan
Allen Ptarmigan, Alexander Ptarmigan
301a-301b
rock-ptarmigan-reinhardt-ptarmigan-nelson-ptarmigan
Rock Ptarmigan, Reinhardt Ptarmigan, Nelson Ptarmigan
302-302a-302b
turner-ptarmigan-townsend-ptarmigan
Turner Ptarmigan, Townsend Ptarmigan
302c-302d
adak-ptarmigan-dixon-ptarmigan
Adak Ptarmigan, Dixon Ptarmigan
302e-302f
evermann-ptarmigan
Evermann Ptarmigan
302.1
welch-ptarmigan
Welch Ptarmigan
303
whitetail-ptarmigan
Whitetail Ptarmigan
304
prairie-chicken
Prairie Chicken
305
heath-hen
Heath Hen
306
lesser-prairie-chicken
Lesser Prairie Chicken
307
sharptail-grouse
Sharptail Grouse
308
columbian-sharptail-grouse-prairie-sharptail-grouse
Columbian Sharptail Grouse, Prairie Sharptail Grouse
308a-308b
sage-hen
Sage Hen
309
merriam-turkey-wild-turkey
Merriam Turkey, Wild Turkey
310-310a
florida-turkey-rio-grande-turkey
Florida Turkey, Rio Grande Turkey
310b-310c
chachalaca
Chachalaca
311
bandtail-pigeon
Bandtail Pigeon
312
viosca-pigeon
Viosca Pigeon
312a
redbill-pigeon
Redbill Pigeon
313
whitecrown-pigeon
Whitecrown Pigeon
314
passenger-pigeon
Passenger Pigeon
315
mourning-dove
Mourning Dove
316
zenaida-dove
Zenaida Dove
317
whitefront-dove
Whitefront Dove
318
whitewing-dove
Whitewing Dove
319
groud-dove
Ground Dove
320
mexican-ground-dove-bermuda-ground-dove
Mexican Ground Dove, Bermuda Ground Dove
320a-320b
inca-dove
Inca Dove
321
key-west-quail-dove
Key West Quail Dove
322
bluehead-quail-dove
Bluehead Quail Dove
323
california-vulture
California Vulture
324
turkey-vulture
Turkey Vulture
325
black-vulture
Black Vulture
326
swallowtail-kite
Swallowtail Kite
327
whitetail-kite
Whitetail Kite
328
mississippi-kite
Mississippi Kite
329
everglade-kite
Everglade Kite
330
marsh-hawk
Marsh Hawk
331
sharpshin-hawk
Sharpshin Hawk
332
cooper-hawk
Cooper Hawk
333
goshawk
Goshawk
334
western-goshawk
Western Goshawk
334a
harris-hawk
Harris Hawk
335
redtail-hawk
Redtail Hawk
337
krider-hawk-western-redtail-hawk
Krider Hawk, Western Redtail Hawk
337a-337b
harlan-hawk-alaska-redtail-hawk
Harlan Hawk, Alaska Redtail Hawk
337d-337e
redshoulder-hawk
Redshoulder Hawk
339
florida-redshoulder-hawk-redbelly-hawk
Florida Redshoulder Hawk, Redbelly Hawk
339a-339b
zonetail-hawk
Zonetail Hawk
340
sennett-whitetail-hawk
Sennett Whitetail Hawk
341
swainson-hawk
Swainson Hawk
342
broadwing-hawk
Broadwing Hawk
343
short-tail-hawk
Short-Tail Hawk
344
mexican-black-hawk
Mexican Black Hawk
345
mexican-goshawk
Mexican Goshawk
346
rufleg-hawk
Rufleg Hawk
347
ferruginous-rufleg-hawk
Ferruginous Rufleg Hawk
348

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