THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 57 



THE MOUNTAIN QUAIL. 



Notes on the Life History of This Rapidly Decreasing Oregon 



Game Bird. 



SHALL never forget my first impressions of 



this game bird when I used to see a flock 



of them many years ago dusting in the road 



•& or feeding towards evening at the edge of 



|l| the woods. I remember occasionally coming 



upon a flock unexpectedly. One of the birds 



would start off down the road in alarm, his 



neck stretched and his long crest feathers 



extended straight up making his legs seem 



very short and giving his body a peculiar squatty appearance. 



The mountain quail (Oreortyx picta, a painted quail of the 

 mountains, named from the Greek, orus, mountain, and ortyx, 

 quail, and the Latin, picta, meaning pictured or painted.) is the 

 largest and handsomest quail found in North America. It is some- 

 times called "Big Blue Quail" by sportsmen distinguishing it 

 from the "Little Blue Quail" which is the California or Valley 

 Quail. 



The call note of the Mountain Quail is a plain short whistle, 

 which is given with the beak up and the wings drooped and 

 sounds like the whistle of some boy signaling to his friend. 



This quail was formerly more abundant than it is today. 

 Thirty years ago in the Willamette Valley it was extremely com- 

 mon. Coveys of them were found in every patch of woods, in the 

 vicinity of every farm and even within a short distance from the 

 center of our towns. Fifteen years later their numbers had 

 greatly decreased. Today they are quite rare in many parts of 

 the Willamette Valley. 



Because of the scarcity of quail in the Willamette Valley 

 and parts of Eastern Oregon, the last legislature closed the sea- 

 son on Mountain and California quail throughout the state, ex- 

 cept in Klamath, Jackson, Josephine, Coos, and Curry Counties. 

 The season on bobwhite quail is closed for the entire state. 



