74 rPLA^T) SHOOTING. 



years, used to be quite as easy to find as it is to keep 

 your dog in order to liunt on one sufficiently scattered to 

 lie closely. 



AVhen we leave tlie lowlands of California, and begin 

 to climb tlie highlands, where the raia-fall is much heavier 

 and timber and running brooks in summer more abundant, 

 and clear springs begin to break from every hill-side, we 

 meet another variety of quail, although we have by no 

 means lost sight of our old friend the valley quail. This 

 new quail is called the mountain quail in California. It 

 is said to be the common quail of Oregon, and to be found 

 there near sea-level. But in California, though occa- 

 sionally found within 1.500 feet or so of sea-level, its 

 favorite home is a mile or more above that, and it is 

 often most abundant at an altitude where the valley quail 

 has entirely disappeared. It is apparently a larger bird 

 than Bob ^Yhite, being fuller feathered, but in fact only a 

 trifle larger, if any. It is plump and full-breasted, and as 

 graceful and artless in every motion as Bob hunself . Its 

 breast is a slate-blue, vdth a low-cut vest of bright cinna- 

 mon mottled with white. Farther back along the sides 

 are four bands of white; the back is a brownish gray, with 

 tail bluish above and cinnamon-tinged beneath. Around 

 a full, swelling throat is a white collar, with, a cinnamon- 

 colored necktie. The head is slate-blue, small, and cun- 

 ningly set with a grayish-brown top-knot, from the top of 

 which rise two long, slender plumes of jet black. 



In character, the mountain bird differs radically from 

 the valley quail. The valley bird is a perfect hoodlum, 

 roistering, bold, saucy, and defiant. He ravages vine- 

 yards almost beneath the owner" s nose, yet his clear icTi it. 

 wTi it, wJi it. of alarm indicates an abiding confidence in his 

 ability to take care of himself. He knows quite well the 

 range of a gun, and though he makesi an occasional mis- 

 take by basing his calculations upon cheap powder and 



