570 THE VALLEY QUAIL. 
“ 
each group. It is very loud and rather harsh, being distinctly heard from a 
distance of at least half a mile. 
Resident thruout the year, these birds seldom stray very far from home. 
but their nesting habits are so remarkable that no hard and fast rules can be 
laid down for them, The first eggs appear during the latter part of May, the 
conservative quail laying from twelve to eighteen of them, in a shallow grass- 
lined hollow that she arranges under some fallen log. At other times, how- 
ever, she is not in the least particular in whose nest she deposits her treasures, 
even the little Towhee having in this way received what must have been a most 
unwelcome addition to her household duties. One nest of the big Sooty 
Grouse, containing nine eggs of the rightful owner, proved so attractive that 
it received no less than three additional eggs from some fascinated quail 
mother. Nature had directed her so well—or was it coincidence ?—that the 
state of incubation in the eggs of both quail and grouse showed they would 
all have hatched at about the same time. 
Late in the fall several coveys will often join together in what are known 
as “packs,” as many as seventy-five or a hundred birds being found in one 
group. Years ago it was not unusual in California to find packs of five or six 
hundred, but these have long since given way before the advance of civilization. 
J. H. Bowes. 
No. 230. 
VALLEY QUAIL. 
A. O. U. No. 294a. Lophortyx californicus vallicola (Ridgw.). 
Synonyms.—VaAtiey Partripce. CALrroRNIA VALLEY QUAIL. 
Description.—Like L. californicus, but lighter in coloration; upperparts 
grayish brown, with inner edges of tertials buffy or whitish; sides grayish olive or 
grayish brown. 
General Range.—Interior districts of California and Oregon south to Cape 
St. Lucas; western Nevada; introduced in Washington. 
Range in Washington.—Sparingly introduced from California. Reported 
only from vicinity of Tacoma. 
Authorities.—Callipepla californica vallicola, Rhoads, Auk, X. Jan. 1893. 
Dp. 17. B: 
Specimens. |}. 
A CASE precisely parallel to that of Oreorty.x pictus and O. p. plumiferus 
occurs here, Importers have been careless as to which form was brought in 
for propagating purposes, and we now find both in the same local range. To 
a student of geographical variation, this remixing of incipient species thru im- 
portation is distressing. By all means let us import game birds and plenty of 
