84 



THE OSPREY. 



A curiosity taken by me this year was a set of 

 9 egg's of the BUie-winged Teal that measure 

 only about 1.51) x 1.00. When it is considered 

 that this is about the size of eggs of the domestic 

 Pigeon, and but little larger than those of the 



Sora Rail, they strike one as a pretty feeble 

 effort for a Duck that has every appearance of 

 being up to the average in point of size and 

 vigor. 



GAMBEL'S QUAIL. 

 By George F. BkEninGEk, Phoenix, Ariz. 



FOUR species of Ouail are known to occur in 

 Arizona; of these Gambel's, or, as com- 

 monly called, the Arizona Quail, is the 

 most numerous over a wide rang-e of territory. 

 Its correct scientific name is Lopltortyx ga)iiluii. 

 Many a desolate desert scene is enlivened by 

 their presence. Once they were exceedingly 

 numerous in the valleys of the Salt and (iila 

 rivers, but traps and guns have greatly thinned 

 their ranks. Seven years ago Quail were ship- 

 ped out of this territory alive by hundreds of 

 dozens, to the' markets of Denver, Colorado 



thickets near the ancient ruins of Casa Grande; 

 while driving along the road, 14 pairs were 

 counted within sight at once. This was late in 

 June. Throughout the warm valleys nidifica- 

 tion takes place in April, continuing through 

 May and June, the last brood coming out in 

 September. I find the set of eg^gs smaller than 

 that of most species of Quail whose eg^gs I have 

 collected. A nest which I discovered among 

 drift wood in one of the channels of Salt River, 

 contained two eggs on April 13; 7 days later it 

 held 9, and 14 days later it held 13 eggs, which 



ALIUNO AIir/.ONA IJDAIL 



Springs and eastward, until the question of total 

 extermination was one of no distant date. At 

 the next meeting of the legislature an act was 

 passed prohiliiting this shipment, live Quail ti> 

 be offered for sale only in home markets. This 

 had a telling effect, and the great inroads made 

 by wholesale trapping in the early "QO's, when 

 every Mexican had a line of traps, were never 

 made whole again. The last legislature has 

 caused to be put into effect a stringent set of 

 g''anie laws, in which no trapping whatever is 

 allowed, and shooting only from October 15 to 

 March 1. It now seems probable that we may 

 have Quail fairly numerous at some distance 

 from the larger towns for many years. I 

 fovtnd them most abundant among mesquite 



were collected as the full set. Another was dis- 

 covered in a hole in a large mesquite tree, bj' the 

 hurried exit of the female as I passed. This set 

 was complete with 12 eggs. The usual nesting 

 site is on the ground, against the trunk of a tree 

 or among fallen limbs; but from former sad ex- 

 periences many birds are nesting above ground, 

 even using old nests of Thrashers and Road 

 Runners, that their egg's may be safe from the 

 many reptiles which one meets with everywhere. 

 The female attends to the duties of incubation 

 alone; after the young are hatched the duties 

 are shared by both parents, which seem equall_v 

 attentive to the welfare of the young. Albi- 

 nistic birds, either wholly or partly white, are 

 frequently taken. Two .such were kept in a cage 



