78 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 
The mountain quail is perhaps the most beautiful 
American quail, though in such an attractive group it 
is hard to say that one is handsomer than another. The 
range of the species is limited to the mountains of the 
Pacific coast, from Washington south through Oregon 
and California, as stated. 
Captain Bendire quotes Prof. O. B. Johnson, of the 
University of Washington, to the effect that its north- 
ern range has been extended by artificial means. He 
says: 
“Twenty years ago this species was found but little 
north of the Willamette Valley, Oregon, but they grad- 
ually worked down the south side of the Columbia 
River, toward Astoria, and in 1872 I was informed that 
some of these birds, shot at Kalama, Washington, were 
the first seen north of the Columbia. A crate of 
trapped birds sent to the Seattle market were, some 
time afterward, purchased by the Young Naturalists’ 
Society and set free. These have since multiplied nice- 
ly, and others have been sent to Whidbey Island, forty 
miles north of Seattle, where I understand they are 
also doing well. A covey wintered in a barn lot with 
the hens just at the outskirts of Seattle this winter.” 
Quite a number were also liberated near Vancouver 
Barracks, and did well. It is a moisture-loving species, 
and delights in a country where the rainfall is heavy. 
The paler race of this species is found in the drier re- 
gions of the Sierra and some of the desert ranges. 
This is quite an abundant species, found high up on 
the mountains in summer, and also low down toward 
