552 SCRATCHING BIRDS — GALLING. 



quickly whistled. This is their usual call to assemble when scattered ; if 

 suddenly startled they fly off with several loud chirps, pil'-p'ii-r'I'-pip, ex- 

 actly like the alarm-note of the rohin. Tlie young wlien alarmed chirp 

 similarly, hut more faintly. 



When hunted they usually run a good deal before flying, and scatter, 

 rising in small numbers at a time or singly ; but it is probable that hunting 

 them with dogs may change this habit, especially in open grounds, and in- 

 duce them to lie closer, like the species of older countries. "When there are 

 trees near, some of tliciu almost always fly into them, and if hard pressed 

 conceal themselves so chjsely in tlie foliage that they are discovered with 

 great difficulty. 



Tlieir habit of scattering makes it difficult to shoot more than one or two 

 at a time, even on the ground, and market-liunters rely chiefly on traps, by 

 which the quails are \-ery soon exterminated from a district. Sportsmen 

 are obliged to destroy these traps wherever Ibund, to prevent this destruc- 

 tion in more populous districts. 



Tlie whir they make when started up is sufficient to put an inexperienced 

 shot quite off his guard ; and I tliink the birds where much hunted discover 

 this fact, and lie closer, starting up in larger numbers and nearer to their 

 pursuer, in order to destroy the effect of his shot. The Eastern quail shows 

 similar differences in habits in different districts. 



From their frequenting the vicinity of bushes and other cover, there seems 

 to be no necessity for the female to use artifice in protecting her young 

 brood, and I have always seen them scatter at once, the old bird flying off' 

 as if confident that the )-oung could take care of themselves. The Eastern 

 species {Ortip- Virgin lanus) has often Ijeen raised liy the domestic hen, and 

 there seems no reason why this should not be also. 



The only point east of the Sierra Nevada, where I have seen this liird, is 

 along the upper part of the Mojave Eiver, and it is doulitful whether tliey 

 occur elsewhere, unless it is in Owen's Valley. Towards the south. Dr. 

 Heermann states that the Colorado desert forms an impassable barrier to 

 their extension eastward. Near the sink of Mojave Iliver they meet with 

 the nearly allied species, Z. Gamhdii, and it would be highly interesting to 

 discover whether the two species hybridize in a wild state. 



Attempts ha\-e Ijeen made to naturalize this species at Puget's Sound, but 

 they probably could not flourish there for many years. They have been 

 establislied, however, in the Sandwich Islands, and it is quite probable that 

 persistent and systematic effort ^\■ill result in making them familiar inhabi- 

 tants of many regions to whicli they do not belong naturally. 



The flesh of the California quail is white and delicate, but rather de- 

 ficient in flavor, though capalile of improvement by fattening in confine- 

 ment. 



