268 ANIMAL LIFE IN THE TOSEMITE 



direct, with heavily whirring wing beats. Voice: A single loud resonant quee-drlc or 

 woock uttered at intervals; also other shorter calls when alarmed, ca-ca-ca-ca-cree'-a, 

 or gup-gup-gup, quee'-ar, quee'-ar. 



Occurrence. — Common in Transition and Canadian zones on both slopes of Sierra 

 Nevada, migrating down to below level of heavy snow in winter. Observed west to 

 Mount Bullion and Smith Creek (east of Coulterville) and east to near Williams 

 Butte. Lives in and around brush patches. 



The traveler approaching the mountains from the west will first meet 

 the Mountain Quail when he has passed the hot dry slopes of the foothills 

 and enters the cooler shelter of the main forest belt. From here on, in 

 the vicinity of yellow pines, incense cedars, and silver and red firs, these 

 elegant birds are to be encountered in moderate numbers. 



With the coming of the warm days of late spring, and on into early 

 summer, the males perch on fallen logs, open spaces on the ground, or 

 even on branches of black oaks, and announce their amatory feelings by 

 giving utterance to their loud calls with such force and vigor that these 

 resound through the forests for a half-mile or more, commanding the 

 attention of all within hearing. One type of call consists of but a single 

 note, quee-drk, and this is repeated at rather long and irregular intervals. 

 One bird timed by the watch, June 3, 1915, gave his calls at intervals of 

 7, 6, 8, 5, 8, 6, 7, 5, 7, 9, and 9 seconds, respectively, and continued at 

 about the same rate for a long time afterward. This intermittent utterance 

 lends to the call a distinctiveness and attractiveness which would be lost 

 if it were given in quicker time. 



Another type of call consists of a series of sharper notes, ker, uttered 

 more rapidly, something after the manner of a flicker. All these notes 

 are to be heard at any time of the year, but not so persistently in December 

 as in June. 



The females, so similar to the males in plumage as not to be distin- 

 guishable under ordinary circumstances, are not much in evidence after 

 the nesting sites have been selected. Until then, the couples flush together 

 from the ceanothus thickets. So careful are the brooding birds in quitting 

 their nesting precincts, that we did not succeed in finding a single nest. 

 Broods are to be expected on the west slope of the Sierras in late June or 

 early July. A covey of small young was seen abroad at Smith Creek 

 (Dudley) on June 20 (1920). Mr. W. 0. Emerson (1893, p, 179) found 

 a brood of downy young in Yosemite Valley on June 19, 1893. To the east 

 of the Sierran crest the season may be somewhat later. 



The average number of eggs laid by the Mountain Quail is fairly large 

 (11, according to a summary of data from all over California), and this is 

 directly correlated with the degree of danger incurred in rearing the 

 chicks to maturity. The mortality from various causes is large, Mr. Dave 

 Bolton, one-time roadmaster at Cascades, told us that in midsummer there 



