THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 59 



their heads which were soon to develop into top-knots. The wing 

 feathers developed rapidly as in the grouse or pheasant. 



At first, the quail had a soft note like the peep of a chicken, 

 but in two or three weeks this note changed to a twitter and a 

 warning cry of "Quit! Quit!" like that used by the mature bird. 



We did not find the quail hard to raise. They adapted them- 

 selves to the bantam's note and came when she called them. They 

 were fed on hard boiled egg, cracked wheat, lettuce, clover and 

 were very fond of any flies or insects. Although very few of these 

 oirds are raised in captivity, I see no reason why some of the peo- 

 ple in our state who are interested in raising game birds should 

 not raise some Mountain Quail and get good prices for them. 



One of the recognition marks of the Mountain Quail is the 

 thin long black crest feathers that extend back from the crown 

 or stand straight up when the bird is alarmed or excited. The 

 upper parts of the bird or the back, wings and tail are olive- 

 brown. The breast is bluish slate. The throat and flanks are 

 deep chestnut, the latter barred with black and white. The male 

 and female are identical in dress, the crest of the female is a 

 little shorter than that of her mate. 



Two Species Called Mountain Quail. 



From a scientific standpoint, there are two quail in Oregon, 

 ooth locally known as Mountain Quail. One cannot be distin- 

 guished from the other by the ordinary sportsman. The trained 

 ornithologist, however, can pick out slight variations in the color 

 of the plumage and distinguish the Mountain Quail (Oreortyx 

 picta) from the Plumed Quail {Oreortyx picta plumifera). The 

 home of the former is the humid transition zone of the Pacific 

 Coast from the southwestern part of "Washington south to Monte- 

 rey County, California. It was formerly introduced on Vancouver 

 Island. The native home of the latter is the semi-arid transition 

 zone from the Columbia River south through the Cascade Range 

 and along both sides of the Sierra Nevadas in California to Lower 

 California. 



While these are the latest records on the geographical dis- 

 tribution of these two subspecies, quail have been trapped and 

 introduced from one locality into another until the student of 

 geographical variation often finds that the present records do 

 not hold true. The Mountain or Plumed Quail ranges in con- 



