the nesting period, as is the case with most birds. The adult pomlation 
did not vary greatly over certain large areas. The number of juveniles, 
however, was far below the normal population that could be expected from 
the number of adults observed or the food, water, and cover available. 
That the California ground sider vet (Citellus a beecheyi) 
and Douglas's ground squirrel (C. b. douglasii) of California and Oregon 
eat the eggs of ground=-nesting birds has long been knom. A valley quail 
nest under observation near Amity, Yamhill County, Oreg., in June 1922, 
was found empty, and the shell fragments were seen about the mounds of 
Douglas's ground squirrels nearby. One egg also was found in a cache made 
by the squirrels. In a report by Kellogg (6, Pp. 6), Frank EB, Dunn, county 
forester of Santa Barbara County, Calif., states that late in April 1925 
he and a forest guard noted a male squirrel carrying eggs from a quail nest 
in the Oso Canyon in the Santa Ynez District of Santa Barbara National For- 
est; they watched it take 6 eggs from a nest containing 19, and then shot 
LG 
During May 1935, the writer observed a California ground squirrel 
robbing a mourning dove's nest (Zenaidura macroura marginella) in a low 
blue oak tree on the Quinto Kanch in Senta Clara County. One egg was eaten 
at the nest, and the other was carried to the squirrel's burrow. On this 
same ranch, several quail nests were found robbed, and shell fragments were 
seen at squirrels! mounds nearby. Another egg was located in a surface 
cache. 
In May 1937, Emlen and Glading (3) observed a California ground 
squirrel in the act of robbing a quail nest. 
Quail Food Consumption 
Important valley quail foods, especially bur-clover and alfileria, 
are consumed in quantity by ground squirreis. Removal of squirrels result- 
ed in an increase in these plants and other forage. Studies on the Quinto 
Ranch show that, on a 5-year average, six squirrels an acre take 48 percent 
of the potential forage. 
Effect of Rodent Control 
Late in the summer of 1928 and during 1929, the California Agricul- 
tural Commissioner's field force in Santa Clara County destroyed great 
numbers of ground squirrels on the Fifield Ranch of the Quinto Land and 
Cattle Company. A prior census of California ground squirrels showed 
5 to 10 an acre on the upper sections of the hills and 20 to 25 in the 
canyons and draws. This is a moderately dense population. Only a few 
valley quail were on the range, and but few had been present for several 
years. 
Strychnine and thallium were the poisons employed in squirrel-con- 
trol operations. In 1930, young valley quail increased in numbers, and 
this increase continued despite the progressive drought that was broken 
af Bi-ws 
