The Oologist. 



VOL. X. 



ALBION, N: Y., MAY, 1893. 



NO. 



On the Habits of the California Quail in New 

 Zealand. 



By Joshua Kltl.^no. 



Tlie many foreign animals intention- 

 ally and accidentl}' iutroduced into New 

 Zealand fui'nish excellent opportuuity 

 of observing the action of instinct when 

 a ."^pecies is suddenly exposed to new 

 conditions, and of ascertaining how 

 lung inherited habits will persist, after 

 their utility has ceased, or after they 

 luive become injurious rather than l)en- 

 rlicial. 



Of this displacement or aberration of 

 instinct as it may be termed, the Cali- 

 fornia Quails [Ortyx cdUfomiGa) now 

 abundant throughout these islands fur- 

 nish two. good examples Befoi-e de- 



•i-ibing these it will be necessary to 

 jive some account of the locality where- 

 in they have been observed. 



The narrow valley of the Pelorus 

 that drains into the head of the Pelorus 

 Sound and inlet on the s uthern shores 

 '>f Cook's Straits, is walled in by steep 

 mountain ranges from two to three 

 thousand feet in elevation. Towards 

 its mouth or for the first eight miles the 

 average width between the l)ases of the 

 mountains is about ninety chains; after 

 which the valley contracts rapidly un- 

 lil it becomes a mere gorge, the mount- 

 • lins constituting the banks of the river. 



The level land consists of terraces 

 formed while the valley was a portion 

 of the Sound and of low alluvial Hats 

 formed by the Pelorus River. Though 

 tliese flats are all subjeet to inundation, 

 portions of them are only covered by 

 the very higliest floods, which occur at 

 long intervals, while other portions are 

 low and swampy, being in many places 

 raised only a few inches above the or- 

 dinary level of the river. 



Except where lire or artilicial clear- 

 ing has made room for fern and giass, 

 the mountains are clothed from base to 

 summit with dense evergreen bush. 

 The greater portion of the level land is 

 now either in grass or imder cultiva- 

 tion, the low parts referred to being 

 however still covered with scrub, 

 rushes and the native flax {Pliarmium 

 tcnax). Cover indeed is every where 

 abundant, the vegetation of the valley 

 lieing particularj'^ rank. 



It can l)e seen from this description 

 that there is a wide choice of situations 

 for ground nesting birds, yet the favor- 

 ite building place pf the California 

 Quail, is amongst the rushes and l!ax 

 in the low, swampy parts of the valley. 



The climate of the Pelorus being ex- 

 tremely uncertain, — heavy rains and 

 Hoods occurring at all seasons of the 

 year, and the river frequently rising 

 Ave or six feet in a few hours — the dan- 

 ger theQuails incur in selecting the low 

 ground for their nesting places is ob- 

 vious. In this respect they present a 

 marked contrast to the indigenous 

 Gray Duck [Anaa supcrcilio.ia) which 

 almost invariably places its nest above 

 the highest lloodmark, though it brings 

 its young ones to the water immediate- 

 I}' after they are out of the shell. I am 

 only aware of one exception to this, a 

 Gray Duck having made its nest in a 

 drained swamp, out of sight of the Pel- 

 orus River but not high above it. The 

 indigenous vegetation (consisting of 

 various species ol Carex,Typha antjusti- 

 folia and Plutrinhim tcnax) bciing des- 

 troyed and grass substituted, tiie bird 

 referred to may iiave been deceived by 

 the altered appearance of the place; in- 

 digenous grass in this part of the coun- 

 try always denoting dry ground. We 

 have here an example of aberration, in 

 stand back and let them till it. 



