18 FRANK SCHLEY'S PARTRIDGE AND PHEASANT SHOOTING. 



high lands, and is called the Mountain Quail. The common 

 Valley Quail of California inhabits the prairies and the 

 grain-fields of the cultivated districts, and frequents the 

 thickets which border the streams, usually in coveys of from 

 a dozen to a hundred individuals, except during the breed- 

 ing-season, when it is found only in pairs. Like the east- 

 ern Quail, the male bird is very fond of sitting on some 

 stump or log projecting above the grass and weeds which 

 conceal his mate and nest or brood, and, especially in the 

 early morning, uttering his peculiar cry, whistle it can 

 hardly be called. This note is spoken of as being rather 

 harsh and disagreeable than otherwise, and somewhat re- 

 sembling that of some of the Woodpeckers. Dr. Newberry 

 adds that it may be represented by the syllables kuck-kuck- 

 kuck-ka, the first three notes being rapidly repeated, the 

 last prolonged with a falling inflection. As a game bird 

 he regards this Quail as inferior to the eastern one, though 

 of equal excellence for the table. It does not lie so well to 

 the dog, does not afford as good sport, and takes to a tree 

 much more readily than the eastern Quail. It is found in 

 all the valleys of California and Oregon, both those in the 

 interior and. those that open on the coast. It is not found 

 in the deep forests, nor on the mountains at any consider- 

 able elevation, nor in the interior basin where water and 

 vegetation are scarce. Specimens were taken by his party 

 in different parts of the Sacramento Valley, at Fort Jones. 

 and in the Willamette Valley, near .the Columbia. In all 

 these there was no appreciable difference. This bird is said 

 to make no elaborate nest, but to lay a large number of 

 eggs on the ground, which are generally hatched in June. 

 This bird is susceptible of domestication, and forms quite 

 an ornament for parks, in which they thrive with proper 

 care. 



Dr. Suckley states that this Quail was successfully intro- 

 duced into Washington Territory, on the prairies near 

 Puget Sound, in the spring of 1857, by Governor Char les 

 H. Mason and Mr. Goldsborough. Two lots were introdu- 

 ced, and by the following winter had increased largely. 



