146 
THE CONDOR 
I VOL. V 
On the Use of Sentinels by Valley Quail 
BY JOHN J. WILLIAMS 
B efore taking up the discussion of this question “Do valley quail use senti- 
nels?” I wish to say that although I am seriously inclined to think that quail 
do use sentinels, yet further observations by others may throw a different 
light on the subject, so that under these circumstances I prefer to leave the 
question open. 
Should any one feel like taking up the study of birds, his ardor is usually 
dampened at the outset somewhat by the large amount of time and patience it re- 
quires to do so. But should any one be inclined to study valley quail {Lophortyx 
c. vallicolus) in particular, after the first attempt there is very little inclination left 
to do so. Out of all of our common birds they are the most ea.sily frightened, 
“Eternal Vigilance’’ evidently being their motto, but of all our common birds they 
are perhaps the most interesting, especially in their habits. The rustling of a dog, 
the snapping of a twig, or the distant report of a gu n, serves equally well to put them 
on guard or start them on the wing. 
Even the wavering shadow of a falling 
leaf has caused O G ' them to scurry from 
me into the nearest ^ \j\ J bushes. And yet for 
all that a detailed -A )i ) A / study of the habits 
of valley quail will ^ /y ^ \ ^ amply repay any 
time put on it. // S S It was with the 
intention of fath- M D \ oming the secretive 
and (to me) un- Ijj known home life 
of these birds, that / , \ I set out in the 
spring of 1901 for / ,7 / tL an old brush fence 
in the foothills of |( Placer county. 
There I felt sure l\ vA ' ^ of a large flock of 
quail, and in fact \\ ^ it was my favorite 
retreat for the ^ ''" — ''A study of a number 
of birds. As a \ ^ good deal of what 
follows is depend- ent upon a thor- 
ough knowledge of the location, I have given in the sketch a general idea 
of the spot. BF represents the brush fence cut in two by a wide irrigation ditch, 
DD. At A on the lower bank of the ditch, among some shrubbery screening me 
from view partially, I chose my hiding place, getting into as good and comfortable 
a position as possible, for once I got settled I knew it was for an hour or more and 
half of that time I would have to be absolutely motionless. No note book was 
needed, and all the notes I took would have to be taken in my head, for a true 
valley quail dislikes the publicity of a written interview and despises reporters. 
Soon from the hillside above the brush fence, I heard their call notes, coming 
nearer and nearer and answered from different points on the hillside, indicating 
that the clan was gathering for its feed in the old apple orchard at O in the sketch. 
Suddenly after some little quietness one of them appeared at F and ran rapidly to 
the point marked S where he flew up onto the lowest branch of a dead peach tree. 
T began to get interested and put the glass on him, although he was only 
about ninety feet from me. He was thoroughly alert and business-like and was 
scrutinizing his surroundings as minutely as a nuthatch would the bark of a tree. 
