iSa. Ge)iercil Notes. [July 



Occurrence op a third Massachusetts specimen of the Lab- 

 rador Gyrfalcon {Falco gyrfalco obsoletus). — A Gyrfalcon which I 

 refer to variety obsoletus has just come into mj possession through the 

 kind offices of Mr. Charles I. Goodale, the well-known Boston taxider- 

 mist. It was shot in Stowe, Mass., in iSSi, and mounted by S. Jillson of 

 Hudson. It is a male in a plumage agreeing closely with that described 

 by Mr. Ridgway* as the fully adult condition of the male of obsoletus. 

 This specimen appears to be only the third which is known to have 

 occurred in Massachusetts. — William Brewster, Cambridge. Mass. 



Instance of Semidomestication of California Quail. — While 

 visiting the Tule River Agency in Tulare County, California, the agent. 

 Mr. C. G. Belknap, learning of my interest in birds, related to me the 

 history of a brood of California Qj_iail (^Lophortyx calif arnica'), which 

 inhabited the near vicinity of the agency buildings. Besides being inter- 

 esting, the facts narrated appear to me to contain a suggestion that may 

 prove of value to all who are concerned in the domestication of Qi^iail or 

 other game birds. Briefly told the story is as follows. 



One of the agent's hens, whose propensity for sitting had been repeat- 

 edly checked with a stern hand, suddenly disappeared. After a consider- 

 able interval the enterprising madam returned leading in her train — not a 

 brood of chickens but a bevy of downy Quail, consisting of.no fewer than 

 fifteen chicks ! 



It is not difficult to surmise how she obtained possession of her trea- 

 sures.^ The California Qiiail is extremely abundant in this locality, and 

 while wandering about under the pangs of disappointed hopes the forlorn 

 flowl doubtless alighted on a Qiiail's nest, ensconced in some secluded 

 and inviting nook, with the owners absent. The temptation proved too 

 strong to be resisted. Returning home the mother Qiiail, backed by her 

 liege lord, doubtless made a stout fight for her own, but found herself 

 utterly unable to cope with her formidable rival and drive her from her 

 newly acquired possessory rights; no doubt Lophortyx soon gave up the 

 unequal contest and retired to provide for a new brood in pastures new. 



Very likely the misguided fowl supplemented the domestic treasures 

 acquired in this original manner with an eg^ or two or her own, laid by 

 the side of the stolen property as a sort of concession to outraged mater- 

 nal instincts. These were forsaken, of course, on the appearance of her 

 adopted nestlings. 



Curiously enough the instincts of the wild birds, though but callow, 

 proved stronger than the inherited tendencies of the domestic fowl, and 

 as the brood increased in size and strength their foster-mother grew more 

 and more wild. When the wings of the fledgelings became strong^nough 

 to bear them and they were flushed from the ground, the hen made frantic 

 efforts to follow them on the wing. Evidently she became not a little 

 unbalanced under the strain of caring for her strangely acting progeny. 

 Up to the time the nestlings were fairly able to shift for themselves the 



*This Bulletin, Vol. V, pp. 92-95. 



