HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



349 







QUAIL. 



of the United States. At the north, this species is 

 rarely seen to the extremity of New Hampshire, and 

 this limit, no doubt, is determined by the length and 

 severity of the winters which prevail in this rigorous 

 climate. They seldom migrate, except to short dis- 

 tances, in quest of food, and consequently, often perish 

 beneath deep drifts of snow, so that their existence is 

 rendered impossible in the arctic winters of our high 

 latitudes. Indeed, sometimes they have been so 

 thinned in this part of the country, that sportsmen, 

 acquainted with their local attachments, have been 

 known to introduce them into places for breeding and 

 to prevent their threatened extermination. So seden- 

 tary are the habits of this interesting bird, that until 

 the flock is wholly routed by the unfeeling hunter, 

 they continue faithfully attached to the neighborhood 

 of the spot where they have been raised and supported. 

 Besides this species there are several which appear 



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