78 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



The mountain quail is perhaps the most beautiful 

 American quail, though in such an attractive group it 

 is hard to say that one is handsomer than another. The 

 range of the species is limited to the mountains of the 

 Pacific coast, from Washington south through Oregon 

 and California, as stated. 



Captain Bendire quotes Prof. O. B. Johnson, of the 

 University of Washington, to the effect that its north- 

 ern range has been extended by artificial means. He 

 says: 



"Twenty years ago this species was found but little 

 north of the Willamette Valley, Oregon, but they grad- 

 ually worked down the south side of the Columbia 

 River, toward Astoria, and in 1872 I was informed that 

 some of these birds, shot at Kalama, Washington, were 

 the first seen north of the Columbia. A crate of 

 trapped birds sent to the Seattle market were, some 

 time afterward, purchased by the Young Naturalists' 

 Society and set free. These have since multiplied nice- 

 ly, and others have been sent to Whidbey Island, forty 

 miles north of Seattle, where I understand they are 

 also doing well. A covey wintered in a barn lot with 

 the hens just at the outskirts of Seattle this winter." 



Quite a number were also liberated near Vancouver 

 Barracks, and did well. It is a moisture-loving species, 

 and delights in a country where the rainfall is heavy. 

 The paler race of this species is found in the drier re- 

 gions of the Sierra and some of the desert ranges. 



This is quite an abundant species, found high up on 

 the mountains in summer, and also low down toward 



