MOUNTAIN QUAIL. 59 



the plumed mountain quail {Oreortyx p. plumiferus) known to him 

 was April 15, and the latest, August 15. He states also that the 

 cock bird takes care of the young." Chester Barlow, in writing of 

 the habits of the mountain quail, says that at Fytfe, Cal., it begins 

 to nest the last of May or early in June. All nests that he found 

 were built in a growth of ' mountain misery ' {Chaiiwhatia sp.) 8 to 

 10 inches high.'' On Mount Tallac and the higher slopes of Pyra- 

 mid Peak, W. W. Price found newly hatched young as late as August 

 15. He noted that by September 1 the quail became restless and soon 

 begaa their peculiar migration from the east slope to the west slope 

 of the Sierras. From 4 to 6 adults with their young form a small 

 band of from 10 to 30 individuals, and pursue their way almost 

 wholly on foot to a more congenial winter climate; and by October 

 1 all had abandoned elevations above 5,000 feet. In spring they 

 migrate back singly or in pairs." 



There are many admirers of this bird because of its exquisite 

 plumage, but most sportsmen prefer a game bird that lies better to 

 the dog. Its flesh is excellent, and the bird sells well in the market. 

 H. W. Henshaw reports that in the late fall of 1880 he found the 

 markets of Portland, Oreg., well supplied Avith live mountain quails 

 which had been trapped in the neighboring mountains, cooped, and 

 sent to the city for sale. Nowhere is it so numerous as the California 

 quail, or the bobwhite in the Southern States, and it is more of a 

 forest-loving species than any other American quail. The mountain 

 quail sometimes enters cleared fields, but so far as the records of the 

 Biological Survey show it does no appreciable damage to cultivated 

 fruits or other crops and it is a useful destroyer of weed seeds. 



FOOD HABITS. 



No stomachs of the mountain quail of the humid regions were 

 available for examination, but Sandys writes that the bird feeds on 

 insects and various seeds, including grain,* and Elliot says it some- 

 times approaches farm buildings in search of scattered kernels of 

 grain. ^ 



The food of the mountain quail of the arid regions has been 



studied in the laboratory of the Biological Survey. The stomachs 



examined, 23 in number, were collected in California. Five were 



. collected in January, 2 in May, 6 in June, 3 in July, 3 in August, and 



a Life Hist. N. Am. Birds [I], p. 16, 1892. 



6 Condor, 3, p. 158, 1901. 



c Condor, .3, pp. 158, 160, 1901. 



<2 Upland Game Birds, p. 93, 1902. 



e Gallinaceous Game Birds N. A., p. 42, 1897. 



