1899.] VAN DKNBURGH — BIRDS OF SAJsTA CLARA CO., CAL. 157 



NOTES ON SOME BIRDS OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, 

 CALIFORNIA. 



BY JOHN VAN DENBURGH. 



(Read November 17, 1899.) 



This paper has been prepared in response to several requests for 

 such notes as I might have on the land birds of Santa Clara county. 

 It is based upon more or less casual observations extending over a 

 period of fourteen years, and makes no pretense to completeness in 

 any way. 



Santa Clara county is slightly greater in extent than Rhode 

 Island. Roughly, it may be described as a great valley lying between 

 two mountain ranges. The eastern range rises, in Mount Hamil- 

 ton, to a height of nearly 4450 feet. The western range is consid- 

 erably lower. The floor of the valley is made up of the southern 

 marshes of San Francisco bay, parklike expanses of open oak 

 groves, orchards, vineyards and great grain fields. The western 

 mountains, where not already under cultivation, are clothed in chap- 

 arral throughout their lower levels, while a fringe of redwoods stands 

 in outline against the sky. 



It is at two points in this western range — Los Gatos and Palo 

 Alto — that nearly all my observations have been made. Doubtless 

 many additional species occur in the valley and in the eastern moun- 

 tains, and it is my hope that other observers will soon complete the 

 list. 



Lophortyx calif ornicus . California Quail. 



Quail are resident in all parts of the county. During March and 

 early April their calls may be heard almost incessantly, for this is 

 the season of courtship, and even the most bashful of the debutantes 

 does not hesitate to reply to the amorous notes of her lovers. At 

 such times the males seem almost devoid of fear, and, if a female be 

 caged, will strut boldly up to her prison door, even though an ob- 

 server be openly stationed a few feet away. Rival suitors often 

 engage in fierce conflicts^ for what is to the female the tenderest of 

 love calls is to another male the sharpest of challenges. 



A few coveys often remain as such through the year, but the mid- 

 dle of April finds most of the quail roaming in pairs. Even at this 



