252 



THE OOLOGIST. 



in the spring, the first one ever taken 

 in Maine. Perhaps I have been equally 

 successful in N. H. 



A. B. Call, 

 Henuiker, N. H. 



"The California Partridge or Valley Quail." 



This beautiful bird {Callipepla cali- 

 J'ornia) is the principal game bird of the 

 Pacific coast, although the Mourning 

 Dove is "peppered" at considei'ably by 

 the young hunter. The male's beauti- 

 ful head and topknot distinguishes him 

 from the female. The topknot, as far 

 as my observation goes, consists of five 

 l)laek feathers, although some say that 

 there are six. The bird is a fast flyer 

 and runner, and one needs a good dog 

 and a true eye to obtain a mess. The 

 bird will not lay to a dog like the Bob 

 White, but will fly at his approach. 

 The quail is rarely seen except on the 

 wing, especially in localities where they 

 have been hunted. The bird generally 

 rise out of a bush and sometimes may 

 be nearly stepped upon before they fly. 

 A dog is generally uecessaiy as the 

 birds are liable to fall in thick brush 

 and are hard to find. 



They generally feed upon plains or 

 hill-sides where the brush is thick, and 

 the seed they feed upon plentiful. In 

 some parts of the state they are con- 

 sidered a pest, as they feed upon the 

 grapes and destroy large quantities of 

 them. 



As a rule they retire to the woods or 

 some thicket to roost. In the morning 

 and evening is the best time to shoot 

 them as they feed then. 



They congregate in flocks of from 10 

 to 150, and even more at some times. 

 They pair about March and generally 

 begin to lay in April. 



I have never been able to oljfaiii but 

 one set of their eggs. In company 

 with a friend I was going along the 

 side of a canon, when we flushed an 

 old bird. Running to look I found a 

 nest containing 14 eggs hid under long 



grasses so as to completely cover the 

 nest. The nest was a shallow hole, 

 lined with leaves, feathers and coarse 

 grasses. The eggs were in ditt'erent 

 states of incubation and differed also 

 largely in the style of marking. They 

 were principally blotches and specks of 

 old gold on a creamy-white surface. I 

 would be glad to hear from anybodj' 

 regarding the number of feathers in a 

 quail's topknot. 



Ray L. Wilbur, 

 Riverside, Calif. 



A Case for Instruments. 



In the OoLOGiST for Aug. and Sept., 

 1888, J. H. F., Jr., gives a description 

 for making a case for instiuments 

 which was A'ery good. I have made a 

 few changes in his plan and like the 

 result better. 



I happened to have a strip of black 

 walnut "Zl inches wide, | in. thick, and 

 several feet long (almost an^'one will 

 be able to procure a suita'ole piece.) 

 From this I cut two piece 6 inches long. 

 One of these I planed down to a thick- 

 ness of about i inch, slightly thicker in 

 the center, having convex top, and 

 rounded edges and corners. This for 

 the cover. 



Then cut places on the inside sur- 

 faces of these pieces as near the right 

 shape of the instruments as possible, 

 taking care to have them large enough. 

 The jjieces should now be sand-papered 

 smooth all over. 



Take two strips of velvet some what 

 lai'ger than the case and fasten them to 

 the sides of the case in which the 

 groo\!.'S are cut. For this I find strong 

 flour-paste preferable to glue. 



N<jw put the instrument in place and 

 press the two pieces together, taking 

 care to have the velvet smooth. Re- 

 move the instruments, place the two 

 pieces together in their proper posi- 

 tions, weight them down and alow 

 them to dr3'. Neva- hare (he instru- 



