536 GAME BIBDS OF CALIFORNIA 



when kept in the same enclosure ; that two broods were reared by his 

 birds, in each season, one in February and another in April or May ; 

 and that bantam hens were found capable of hatching the quail's eggs 

 successfully, where the latter had been deserted during the early part 

 of the season. This and other instances suggest the possibility of semi- 

 domestication of quail, as on large ranches. In fact there are reports of 

 quail mingling freely with chickens ; and one case is on record ( Hen- 

 shaw, 1883, pp. 184-185) where a hen with an unusual propensity for 

 sitting, appropriated of her own accord a nest of quail's eggs some- 

 where in the neighborhood. In due time she came off leading in her 

 train a bevy of fifteen downy quail. These were successfully reared, 

 and remained about the ranch yard where their tameness distinguished 

 them from other quail in the vicinity. 



Hunting in one form or another has been the most effective factor 

 in the decrease of the Valley Quail. As with so many of our other 

 game birds, too long an open season, too large bag limits, or none at 

 all, and hunting for the market, have together been instrumental in 

 reducing the numbers of quail; but the last-named factor is un- 

 doubtedly the most important one. Twenty years ago a quail hunt 

 for sport involved considerable time and inconvenience ; but todaj', 

 with the increased facilities for travel available in the form of rail- 

 roads, suburban electric lines and automobiles, and the more efficient 

 types of firearms, both of these factors have been greatly reduced. 

 A quail hunt may now occupy but a relatively short time, and the 

 destruction possible with a pump or automatic shotgun as compared 

 with a double-barrel gun has given the present-day hunter a greatly 

 increased advantage. The annual destruction of quail has exceeded 

 the yearly crop, and in consequence the breeding stock has been sadly 

 reduced. At present there are many places, notably in southern 

 California, where drastic action must be invoked at once if any birds 

 at all are to be left. Smaller bag limits and shortened seasons, or 

 even an entirely closed season for a few years in critical localities, are 

 believed to be the only means of affording the birds the protection 

 they need. But even where they have been reduced, the Valley and 

 California quails may. be expected, other conditions being equal, to 

 regain their former numbers more rapidly than any other game 

 species. This is another evidence of their fitness as game birds : They 

 can stand the greatest annual toll and yet, because of their high rate 

 of reproduction (providing the optimum breeding stock be not 

 reduced), safely and easily recoup their numbers from year to year. 



It is erroneous to believe that a considerable number of quail can- 

 not be maintained under present conditions. The birds have demon- 

 strated their ability to exist under a wide variety of physical condi- 

 tions, and are not averse to the proximity of man, as abundantly 



