﻿48 
  BOB 
  WHITE 
  AND 
  OTHEK 
  QUAILS 
  OF 
  UNITED 
  STATES. 
  

  

  during 
  the 
  last 
  week 
  of 
  May 
  in 
  Tulare 
  County, 
  Cal., 
  by 
  J. 
  E. 
  McLel- 
  

   lan. 
  The 
  eggs 
  usually 
  number 
  12 
  to 
  15, 
  and 
  are 
  white 
  or 
  buff 
  with 
  

   spots. 
  

  

  These 
  birds 
  take 
  kindly 
  to 
  civilization, 
  and 
  flocks 
  are 
  not 
  rarely 
  

   seen 
  in 
  the 
  suburbs 
  of 
  large 
  towns, 
  where 
  they 
  range 
  through 
  the 
  

   gardens 
  and 
  orchards. 
  They 
  often 
  nest 
  close 
  to 
  farm 
  buildings, 
  and 
  

   W. 
  Otto 
  Emerson 
  states 
  that 
  a 
  pair 
  nested 
  within 
  a 
  rod 
  of 
  his 
  front 
  

   door, 
  though 
  nearly 
  every 
  hour 
  people 
  and 
  vehicles 
  were 
  passing 
  

   within 
  four 
  feet 
  of 
  the 
  nest. 
  

  

  Instead 
  of 
  spending 
  the 
  night 
  in 
  a 
  circle 
  on 
  the 
  ground, 
  like 
  the 
  

   bobwhite, 
  the 
  California 
  quail 
  chooses 
  much 
  safer 
  places 
  and 
  roosts 
  

   in 
  bushes 
  or 
  low 
  thickly 
  foliaged 
  trees. 
  This 
  quail 
  is 
  even 
  more 
  con- 
  

   fiding 
  than 
  the 
  bobwhite, 
  and 
  frequently 
  comes 
  about 
  farm 
  buildings 
  

   to 
  eat 
  with 
  the 
  chickens. 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  known 
  to 
  lay 
  in 
  confinement, 
  

   and 
  appears 
  to 
  yield 
  readily 
  to 
  semidomestication. 
  

  

  The 
  valley 
  quail 
  has 
  acquired 
  the 
  interesting 
  habit 
  of 
  posting 
  sen- 
  

   tinels 
  when 
  feeding, 
  which 
  is 
  described 
  in 
  detail 
  by 
  John 
  J. 
  Williams. 
  

   Mr. 
  Williams 
  observed 
  a 
  flock 
  enter 
  a 
  field 
  and 
  begin 
  to 
  feed, 
  while 
  a 
  

   sentinel 
  took 
  his 
  station 
  in 
  a 
  peach 
  tree 
  and 
  scanned 
  the 
  country 
  

   round 
  about 
  for 
  danger. 
  Presently 
  he 
  was 
  relieved 
  by 
  a 
  second 
  bird, 
  

   who 
  took 
  up 
  a 
  position 
  on 
  a 
  brush 
  pile 
  and 
  a 
  little 
  later 
  was 
  relieved 
  

   by 
  a 
  third, 
  who 
  kept 
  guard 
  while 
  the 
  other 
  two 
  fed 
  with 
  the 
  flock. 
  a 
  

  

  Writing 
  in 
  1891 
  Clark 
  P. 
  Streator 
  says 
  that 
  about 
  100,000 
  are 
  sold 
  

   each 
  year 
  in 
  the 
  San 
  Francisco 
  market. 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  perfect 
  game 
  bird, 
  

   for 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  lie 
  well 
  to 
  a 
  dog, 
  and 
  when 
  once 
  flushed 
  has 
  a 
  habit 
  of 
  

   running 
  that 
  is 
  exasperating 
  to 
  the 
  sportsman. 
  The 
  best 
  way 
  to 
  hunt 
  

   these 
  quail 
  is 
  to 
  keep 
  the 
  dog 
  at 
  heel 
  and 
  to 
  run 
  down 
  the 
  birds. 
  This 
  

   is 
  likely 
  to 
  make 
  them 
  take 
  wing 
  and 
  to 
  break 
  up 
  the 
  covey. 
  The 
  

   same 
  result 
  may 
  be 
  accomplished 
  also 
  by 
  discharging 
  the 
  gun 
  in 
  the 
  

   air. 
  When 
  a 
  covey 
  has 
  been 
  scattered 
  in 
  suitable 
  cover 
  they 
  will 
  lie 
  

   well 
  enough 
  to 
  a 
  trained 
  dog 
  to 
  give 
  the 
  hunter 
  considerable 
  sport, 
  

   though 
  it 
  is 
  poor 
  in 
  comparison 
  with 
  that 
  afforded 
  by 
  the 
  bobwhite. 
  

   The 
  beauty 
  of 
  this 
  quail, 
  its 
  pleasant 
  call 
  notes, 
  and 
  its 
  confidence 
  in 
  

   man 
  make 
  it 
  a 
  favorite, 
  except 
  where 
  it 
  damages 
  the 
  grape 
  crop. 
  In 
  

   fall 
  and 
  winter 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  abundant 
  hundreds 
  of 
  birds 
  unite 
  in 
  great 
  

   packs. 
  Bendire, 
  writing 
  in 
  1892, 
  says 
  that 
  within 
  a 
  decade 
  packs 
  of 
  

   500 
  were 
  often 
  found, 
  but 
  that 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  coveys 
  even 
  of 
  50 
  were 
  

   rare 
  in 
  most 
  places. 
  6 
  In 
  the 
  fall 
  of 
  1891 
  they 
  were 
  still 
  very 
  abun- 
  

   dant 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  San 
  Joaquin 
  Valley, 
  where 
  E. 
  W. 
  Nelson, 
  

   of 
  the 
  Biological 
  Survey, 
  records 
  their 
  slaughter 
  by 
  pot 
  hunters. 
  

   The 
  hunters 
  stationed 
  themselves 
  behind 
  a 
  brush 
  blind 
  near 
  the 
  one 
  

   spring 
  where 
  the 
  birds 
  came 
  to 
  drink. 
  Thousands 
  of 
  them 
  flocked 
  

  

  « 
  Condor, 
  vol. 
  5, 
  pp. 
  146-148, 
  1903. 
  

  

  & 
  Life 
  Hist. 
  N. 
  Am. 
  Birds 
  [I], 
  p. 
  24, 
  1892. 
  

  

  

  