THE CALIFORNIA QUAIL 



T. W. HENRY 



THE ideal game bird of this State is found in the California valley 

 quail (Callipapla Calif ornica). Swift of flight, true to his instincts 

 and possessing traits adapted to the proclivities of the bird dog, 

 this quail affords the sportsman the keenest enjoyment. 



Nimrods who have shot in various lands give testimony of his superiority 

 after a day's shoot among the California quail. Gregarious by nature, he 

 roams for most of the year in coveys of from a dozen to a hundred or more. 

 But when the nesting season comes every Jack finds his Jill and prepares 

 for family-raising. The nest is made in a hollow in the ground, in the grass 

 or weeds. Ten to twenty-four eggs are laid, and then the patient wait of 

 twenty-three days for incubation. Scarcely has the last nestling picked his 

 way to freedom ere all are out to follow the parent birds in the quest for 

 food. Even if the last to hatch are not all in readiness to leave the shell, 

 if legs are free, the little mite will venture forth with shell on his back. 



The gallant male will occupy an eminence, where he stands as a look- 

 out while his family is foraging. At the approach of danger he sounds the 

 alarm, and if you approach in time you may see the tiny specks rush to 

 cover, and then — find him if you can, even though the ground be as bare 

 as a floor. 



By the time the birds are grown the smaller coveys have united, and 

 the shooting season is at hand. 



Thanks to the wise legislature, the closed season for the nesting period 

 is sufficiently long to enable the birds to become fully grown. 



Two distinct varieties of California quail exist, — known locally as the 

 mountain quail and the valley quail. The names are somewhat misnomers, 

 so far as indicating the topography of the country which the two varieties 

 occupy. The mountain variety, however, is generally found in a mountain- 

 ous and wooded country, though not infrequently will he roam afield in 

 the lower stretches. The valley quail is found in both mountain and plain, 

 and seems to have little preference in his choice of location so far as topog- 

 raphy is concerned. 



The mountain quail is somewhat larger than his cousin, is of more 

 beautiful plumage, the male and female being almost identical in appear- 

 ance, and differs to some extent in instinct. This variety cannot be classed 

 as a game bird of great importance. It is rapidly becoming scarce — in fact 

 now may be almost classed as a rara avis. It is therefore the purpose of 

 this article to deal with the more numerous and much more important 

 variety — the California valley quail. 



The male bird of this variety is handsome in plumage. The topknot 

 of black projecting upward an inch or more, the head marked with jet 

 black and pure white, and the breast plumage a beautifully mottled bronze. 

 The female is rather plain in appearance compared with her mate. The size 

 of the birds is about the same as the Eastern bob-white, or perhaps a trifle 

 larger. 



The California quail is indigenous to that stretch of country extending 

 from Oregon into Lower California. He is less numerous in the densely 

 wooded and more rainy northern section, is seldom found in the higher 

 altitudes of the Sierra Nevada Range, but seems to find as his ideal environ- 

 ment the drier and warmer sections of the plains and valleys of the south- 

 ern and central parts of California. Indeed he is not averse to the cactus- 

 covered semi-arid regions of Lower California, Old Mexico, and Arizona. 

 Hunting parties frequently go over the line into Lower California and find 

 excellent shooting where the cactus patches are so thick that the bird-dog 

 Is unable to work. 



