VOL. X. 



The Oologist. 



ALBION, N. Y., MAY, 1893. 



NO. 5 



On the Habits of the California Quail in New 

 Zealand. 



By Joshua Rutland. 



The many foreign animals intention- 

 ally and accideutly introduced into New 

 Zealand furnish excellent opportunity 

 of observing the action of instinct when 

 a species is suddenly exposed to new 

 conditions, and of ascertaining how 

 long inherited habits will persist, after 

 their utility has ceased, or after they 

 have become injurious rather than ben- 

 eficial. 



Of this displacement or aberration of 

 instinct as it may be termed, the Cali- 

 fornia Quails (Ortyx californica) now 

 abundant throughout these islands fur- 

 nish two good examples Before de- 

 scribing these it will be necessary to 

 give some account of the locality where- 

 in they have been observed. 



The narrow valley of the Pelorus 

 that drains into the head of the Pelorus 

 Sound and iulet on the s uthern shores 

 of Cook's Straits, is walled in by steep 

 mountain ranges from two to three 

 thousand feet in elevation. Towards 

 its mouth or for the first eight miles the 

 average width between the bases of the 

 mountains is about ninety chains; after 

 which the valley contracts rapidly un- 

 til it becomes a mere gorge, the mount- 

 ains constituting the banks of the river. 



The level land consists of terraces 

 formed while the valley was a portion 

 of the Sound and of low alluvial fiats 

 formed by the Pelorus River. Though 

 these flats are all subject to inundation, 

 portions of them are only covered by 

 the very highest floods, which occur at 

 long intervals, while other portions are 

 low and swampy, being in mauy places 

 raised only a few inches above the or- 

 dinary level of the river. 



Except where fire or artificial clear- 

 ing has made room for fern and grass, 

 the mountains are clothed from base to 

 summit with dense evergreen bush. 

 The greater portion of the level land is 

 now either in grass or under cultiva- 

 tion, the low parts referred to being 

 however still covered with scrub, 

 rushes and the native flax (Pharmmm 

 tenax). Cover indeed is eA^ei-y where 

 abundant, the vegetation of the valley 

 being particulary rank. 



It can be seen from this description 

 that there is a wide choice of situations 

 for ground nesting birds, yet the favor- 

 ite building place of the California 

 Quail, is amongst the rushes and flax 

 in the low, swampy parts of the valley. 



The climate of the Pelorus being ex- 

 tremely uncertain, — heavy rains and 

 floods occurring at all seasons, of the 

 year, and the river frequently rising 

 five or six feet in a few hours — the dan- 

 ger theQuails incur in selecting the low 

 ground for their nesting places is ob- 

 vious. In this respect they present a 

 marked contrast to the indigenous 

 Gray Duck (Anas superciliosa) which 

 almost invariably places its nest above 

 the highest floodmark, though it brings 

 its young ones to the water immediate- 

 ly after they are out of the shell. I am 

 only aware of one exception to this, a 

 Gray Duck having made its nest in a 

 drained swamp, out of sight of the Pel- 

 orus River but no I high above it. The 

 indigenous vegetation (consisting of 

 various species ot Carex,Typha angvsti- 

 folia and Pharmium tenax) being des- 

 troyed and grass substituted, the bird 

 referred to may have been deceived by 

 the altered appearance of the place; in- 

 digenous grass in this part of the coun- 

 try always denoting dry ground. We 

 have here an example of aberration, in 

 stand back and let them till it. 



