and from three and a half to five inches long. Both 

 sexes are alike in all species. 



Nest and Eggs The nest, like that of all gallinaceous 

 birds, is a depression on the ground, hidden among a 

 bunch of bushes or under a log, surrounded by a few 

 dry leaves. The number of eggs will average about a 

 dozen, rather oval in shape and of a light ochreous 

 color. 



Measurements Length (see diagram), will average 

 about 10 inches; wing 5^, bill about % of an inch. 



THE CALIFORNIA VALLEY QUAIL 



(Lophortyx californicus vallicola) 



There are two varieties of the California valley quail. 

 They are distinguished not so much by the slight dif- 

 ference in color as in the very marked difference in 

 their habits. 



As with the mountain quail the ornithologist has tak- 

 en the wrong bird for the type, making the larger race 

 the subspecies. To the species (Lophortyx californicus) 

 inhabiting the foothills of the Coast range north of the 

 bay of San Francisco and into western Oregon, the 

 ornithologist has given the English name California par- 

 tridge. This species is a lover of damp places and rank 

 growths of underbrush and ferns. The subspecies 

 (Lophortyx californicus vallicola), to which has been 

 given the name valley partridge, ranges from central 

 Oregon throughout the great valleys of California, the 

 foothills of the western slope of the Sierras, both sides 

 of the Coast range south from San Francisco bay and 

 throughout the peninsula of Lower California. Like the 

 mountain quail it does not cross the Colorado desert 

 into Arizona or the mainland of Mexico. Nevertheless 

 it has a wider range than any other one species of game 

 bird. 



Of all the game birds of America the California valley 

 quail is the most resourceful and characterized by the 

 greatest cunning. Having hunted these birds for up- 

 ward of fifty years and practically throughout their 

 entire range, I freely give them credit for knowing 

 more tricks and being able to concoct more schemes of 

 deception. than all the rest of the tetraonidae combined, 

 and this resourcefulness has led to most of the false 

 statements regarding their behavior and gameness. It 

 has been said by writers, who should know better, that 

 a dog is no use in hunting them because of their dis- 

 position to run. Any bird with more game than a fool- 

 15 



