NON-NATIVM GAME BIBDS 39 



Othee Quail 



Attempts to transplant our native species from place to place have 

 also been made. For instance, the Gambel or Desert Quail {Lophortyx 

 gamheli) found on our southeastern deserts, early proved incapable 

 of withstanding the cooler climate and widely different conditions of 

 the north, as is evidenced by the following statement by Belding (1890, 

 p. 8) : "Some years ago some Arizona [Desert] quail were put out 

 near Polsom, but they all soon disappeared, and nothing has been 

 heard of them since." This failure did not prevent further attempts. 

 An editorial in Western Field (Anonymous, 1907, p. 208) reports that 

 a large number of Gambel Quail obtained in Arizona were liberated 

 on the grounds of the Country Club in Marin County, but that in less 

 than two years not one could be seen. 



In January, 1912, at the instance of the California Fish and Game 

 Commission, more than 700 Gambel Quail were trapped in Coachella 

 Valley, in southern Riverside County. Three hundred were liberated 

 in three different places in Los Angeles County, one hundred in 

 Orange County, and a similar number in Ventura and San Benito 

 counties, while another hundred was sent to the State Game Farm at 

 Hayward. 



All of the attempts to introduce the Gambel Quail into northern 

 California have met with failure. Nor did success attend the effort 

 to breed this quail at the Game Farm. All but three of the female 

 birds died, most of them when containing eggs ready to be laid. 



Early in 1904, Deputy H. T. Payne, of the Fish and Game Com- 

 mission, was sent to Mexico to secure some of the quail of that country, 

 believing that they would be likely to find congenial conditions in our 

 interior valleys. About four dozen Elegant Quail {Lophortyx elegans) 

 were brought from the State of Sonora, and were placed in seemingly 

 suitable localities in California (Calif. Fish Comm., 1904, p. 67). The 

 birds quickly disappeared and nothing was ever heard of them. 



Acting on the current popular belief that ' ' new blood ' ' was neces- 

 sary in order to prevent in-breeding and thus to stimulate increase, 

 efforts were made in 1908-1909 to trap Valley Quail in sections where 

 they were abundant and distribute them to localities where their 

 numbers had been greatly reduced. In 1908 about 2,000 Valley Quail 

 were thus transferred. At the same time efforts to obtain quail from 

 Mexico resulted in the trapping of 1,500 birds (Valley Quail?) in 

 Lower California. These birds were retained for a time in a public 

 park in Los Angeles and subsequently liberated (Calif. Fish and Game 

 Comm., 1910, p. 57). This practice has been abandoned of late years. 

 Present knowledge discloses no scientific basis for the belief that 

 in-breeding has any deleterious effect on rate of increase among wild 

 species. 



