GAMBEUS QUAIL. 485 



a good designation, and we hereby unite with them in a desire to drop the name Quail, which 

 is only appropriately applied to the European migrating bird of that name. Though so com- 

 mon in New England, it is not found in Maine and the northern portions of Vermont and New 

 Hampshire. In most Western States, including New York, it is seen farther north, and it has 

 even been seen near Hamilton, in Southern Canada. 



This bird is not migratory, rarely leaving its breeding-places. In severe winters it suffers 

 from hunger, large numbers often succumbing when the snow has buried out of reach the 

 sparsely distributed dried fruits of the forest. 



In country towns, where the Bob- Whites are not molested, they become quite tame, and 

 resort to the barn-yards to eat scattered grain with' the poultry. They are much esteemed 

 as an article of food of great delicacy. 



Dr. Brewer thinks that the large number of eggs is owing to several females laying in the 

 same nest. He thinks that the number of one bird is never more than eight. They have two 

 broods in a season ; the second one comes out in August, when the males are engaged in lead- 

 ing the first brood, of which he takes charge when they are not more than half -grown. 



Dr. Bachman, of Charleston, S. C., made very successful experiments in domesticating 

 this bird, hatching their eggs under a bantam hen. 



An experiment was instituted in Great Salt Lake Valley of introducing a number of these 

 birds, and proved very satisfactory. A variety found in Texas differs in color of plumage ; it 

 is there called Common Partridge. Other varieties are noticed ; those found in Florida consti- 

 tuting one. 



THE MOUNTAIN QUAIL (Oreortyx pictus) is a beautiful species ; not abundant in any 

 locality, but occurs sparingly in Oregon and California. It is essentially a mountain bird. 

 Its habit of frequenting the chaparral renders it safe from intrusion, and, seemingly knowing 

 this, it seldom takes flight. Its call note, when the flock is scattered, is almost like that of 

 the hen-turkey, or proportionally weaker. The male has a pleasant crowing note. The 

 settlers in Nevada say that these birds were not known there until after the settlement by the 

 whites, and regard their presence now as the result of numbers following the baggage wagons 

 of the travellers to pick up grain left by the cattle. 



CALIFORNIA QUAIL (Lophortyx californica). This is rather superior, in point of beauty 

 of form and gracefulness of carriage, to the other species. The pompon-like tuft on its head 

 is especially stylish, so to speak. Its local name is Valley Quail, to distinguish it from the 

 preceding. It inhabits the prairies and grain-fields of the cultivated districts, and frequents 

 the thickets that border the streams, usually in coveys of from a dozen to a hundred indi- 

 viduals, except during the breeding seasons, when it is found only in pairs. 



It has the same habit of mounting a log or fence, and uttering its peculiar note, but, 

 instead of the pleasant notes of the Bob- White, its utterance is harsh, and resembles the 

 syllables Ituck, Ttuck, kuck-M, the first three notes being rapidly repeated, the last prolonged 

 with a falling inflection. 



This, as is the case with other species, is not esteemed for eating as is the Eastern or 

 Virginia Quail, Bob-White. It is easily domesticated, and forms a beautiful addition to the 

 poultry-yard or park. 



A number of these birds were introduced into Long Island, and promised to thrive, but 

 the numerous gunners soon exterminated them. 



GAMBEL'S QUAIL (Lophortyx gambeli). This species is confined to a narrow belt of 

 country between the 31st and the 34th parallel 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 those mountains. It is abundant around the sources of the Gila River, and 

 also common along the Colorado, as far as the mouth of the Gila. It is regarded as less wild 

 than the preceding. The voice of the male is very pleasant ; it is like kaa-wale, fcaa-wale, 

 slowly uttered in a low tone, yet the voice is heard at a great distance. This is heard at 



