154 
this is a rather late date for this bird 
to be found in that section. 
I was recently advised by Dr. B. A. 
Mardis of San Francisco, California, 
that he killed an emperor goose near Nor- 
man, Glenn County, California, during 
the fall of 1916. This bird is now on 
display in the store rooms of the Ellery 
Arms Company.—J. S. Hunter. 
VALLEY QUAIL LAYS TWENTY-NINE 
EGGS. 
Those who are endeavoring to rear 
valley quail in captivity will be interested 
in the following results obtained in the 
past breeding season. A _ vyalley quail 
which I have kept in captivity for several 
years deposited her first egg on March 2 
and the last one on May 16, making a 
total of twenty-nine eggs. She showed no 
inclination to incubate them so it has 
been necessary to hatch them under ban- 
tam hens. A still larger number of eggs 
for breeding purposes could doubtless 
have been obtained had the eggs been re- 
moved as they were laid— GEORGE NEALE. 
UNITED STATES FOREST 
PEOPLE FAVOR ANGELES GAME 
REFUGES. 
People are in favor of the two refuges 
of approximately 600,000 acres within the 
Angeles Forest, known as 4-A and 4-B. 
Deer are becoming more and more plenti- 
ful. We have approximately 400,000 peo- 
ple go into the forest each year for 
recreational purposes, and if there are 
1,000 deer hunters, it stands to reason 
that the opposition of 399,000 should out- 
weigh that of 1,000. If anyone is bene- 
fited by reason of an open season, it 
would be the resort owners, and yet with 
the possible exception of one owner, a 
man who has been “n court several times 
for alleged game violations, I have yet to 
find a resort owner who is not in favor 
of the continuance of the game refuges.— 
B. W. CHARLETON. 
ELK INCREASING IN SHASTA 
NATIONAL FOREST. 
The elk in the Squaw Creek District are 
increasing. Seven cow elks with calves 
were seen this year (1917). Some of 
the original herd died off but they seem to 
be increasing now and are apparently 
CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME, 
THE BARN OWL AS A GOPHER 
CATCHER. 
Direct evidence of the value of the barn 
owl is to be found in an experiment per- 
formed on the raneh of Mr. Burris, near 
Hanford, Kings County, California. A 
young barn owl was taken from the nest 
and placed where the parent birds could 
feed it. On the dates indicated the fresh 
food in view around the young bird was 
as follows: 
May 14th, 6 
May 15th, 5 
May 16th, 1 
> 
+ 
gophers and 1 jack rabbit. 
gophers. 
gopher and 1 jack rabbit. 
gophers. 
gophers. 
gophers. 
~ 
May 1/th, 
May 18th, 
“May 19th, 2 
Thus, a total of 20 gophers and 2 jack 
rabbits were killed in six days time by 
one pair of barn owls. In addition the 
parents ted themselves and another 
young owl left in the nest.— 
BH. W. SMALLEY. 
SERVICE CO-OPERATION. 
All elk seen were in good 
apparently doing well.— 
acclimated. 
eondition and 
Wo. GRACEY. 
GAME SCARCE IN EL DORADO 
NATIONAL FOREST. 
Game is becoming so scarce in the El 
Dorado National Forest that the con- 
sensus of opinion of forest officers is that 
closed seasons should be enforced as 
follows : 
Deér se oi eS eee ee 3 years 
Grouse: 222 Se re a 3 years 
Gray Squinrels2*= 222 eee 3 years 
Qualls 3 ee ee 3 years 
—E. L. Scorr. 
GROUSE IN THE PLUMAS 
NATIONAL FOREST. 
Grouse are noted in most parts cf the 
Plumas National Forest, but the number 
is small. Sage-hen are only seen in 
Frenchman Creek, and a few in Sierra 
Valley. It is my opinion that the sea- 
son on both these game birds should be 
closed for a number of years, and this 
same opinion has been voiced by a num- 
