126 BIRDS 



In Taranaki they were spreading in some districts in 1874 having 

 apparently worked their way down from Auckland. Then in 1880 

 the local society imported 60 birds, presumably from Nelson, and 

 they steadily increased, and were reported in 1904 plentiful in all 

 parts. In 1913 they are reported as having become "very numerous 

 in various parts of the district, and farmers complained of the damage 

 done by these birds." 



It is, however, in the Nelson provincial district that this species 

 has increased and thriven to the greatest extent. The only record 

 I can find of their introduction into Nelson is the isolated one of 

 42 birds received from the Auckland Society in 1868. (I may 

 remark that the early records of the Nelson Society are unobtainable.) 

 But there is no doubt that in about ten or a dozen years they became 

 a considerable article of export at one time. At a meeting of the 

 Southland Society in 1897, Mr Whitcombe stated that in Nelson, 

 quails were formerly so numerous that they were tinned by thousands ; 

 and Mr Ellis mentioned that when he was at home, a shipment of 

 20,000 arrived in London in the frozen state from Wellington. 



I wrote to Mr John Pollock, President of the Nelson Society, on 

 the subject, and in his reply, dated 13th December, 1915, he says: 



With regard to your enquiry re Quail, I have interviewed Mr Kirk- 

 patrick, and he informs me that he started tinning these birds about 

 twenty-five years ago, and from my own recollection that is about the time 

 they were most numerous in this district. Mr Kirkpatrick informs me that 

 the year he started the industry he was paying as low as 3<?. per brace for 

 the birds which were, of course, trapped, the price rising each successive 

 year until lod. was reached. At this price it did not pay him to continue, 

 and he accordingly closed down this line of goods. At the same time that 

 tinning was being carried on, large quantities of quail were shipped to 

 the Wellington and West Coast markets. I have myself seen ten or twelve 

 4-bushel sacks full of birds on the Nelson wharf awaiting shipment. This 

 state of things, however, did not last long. Stoats and weasels made their 

 appearance in the district, having been liberated in the Marlborough 

 district adjoining, and I think there is little doubt that the gradual diminu- 

 tion of the quail ever since may be chiefly ascribed to these pests, assisted 

 by the countless numbers of starlings which now scour the country in 

 search of food. 



The Nelson Society report them as quite common in recent years, 

 1911-15. 



Californian quail are regarded by most farmers as somewhat of 

 a nuisance. Mr Drummond states that "At Te Puke, in the Maketu 

 district, quail live largely on clover, taking both seed and the young 

 plants in the bush-clearings." Mr D. Petrie states that in the 

 Waikato they are a nuisance, as they pick up the newly-sown and 

 germinating turnip seed; "one bird was found to have about 130 



