The Bikds of El Paso County, Colorado 493 



the signal station on the summit of Pike's Peak on June 

 second. The female was shot at the time, and the male lin- 

 gering near was killed six days later. It is strangely at vari- 

 ance with the known habits of this bird that it should penetrate 

 so far into the mountains, but this is not the only instance we 

 have of its occurrence at high altitudes. In June, 1911, T. S. 

 Brigham saw a covey near a ranch at Lake George, over 30 

 miles northwesterly from Colorado Springs, in the heart of 

 the mountains, at 8,085 feet altitude. The ranchman told him 

 they were reared there by a pair which came there the year 

 before. 



From the first appearance of these birds in El Paso 

 County they multiplied rapidly. In the late autumn of 1911 

 . packs of one or two hundred were reported near Fountain and 

 Buttes. In defiance of the game law which then protected them 

 until 1915, and which protection has since been extended to 

 1924, many were shot. Later in the winter snows which cov- 

 ered the ground for a week or two at a time deprived them of 

 food. Whether they migrated or perished is uncertain, but 

 tiiere were few remaining the next year and they have not 

 since been plentiful. 



The Scaled Quail does not usually hide for protection but 

 depends on its fleetness of foot to escape. On barren land 

 to the southward where little vegetation grows besides the 

 tree cactus they find a friendly shelter beneath the sharp-spined 

 branches from the attacks of hawks. That many do fall vic- 

 tims to birds of prey is certain. A Goshawk from Pueblo 

 County brought to Aiken February 15, 1909, contained in its 

 ciop one freshly eaten Scaled Quail, and in its stomach the 

 remains of another. 



As noted by Aiken the call note of this quail is kuk chung 

 often repeated. 



Lophortyx californica. California Quail. 



An introduced species. E. A. Touzalin liberated some at 

 lis ranch on Cheyenne Mountain a number of years ago, and 



