148 
THE CONDOR 
I VOL. V 
a single bird separated quietly from the flock, and running to the foot of a fence 
post at reached the top by a short flight. At this point of my observations I be- 
came very much interested, anxiously waiting for the lone bird at S‘ to rejoin the 
flock, as proof of ray theory that the whole performance was prearranged and 
intentional, and not of an accidental nature, and after a minute or so the bird 
(juietly did so. 
To say the least I was delighted, for here was something worth following up. 
That these birds were schemers, I had had to previously acknowledge after many 
a hard day’s unsuccessful tramp after them, but to find out that that they had a 
well organized system of protecting themselves while feeding out in open ground 
was an eye-opener. 
From E they followed the dotted course, crossing their original line of travel 
and moving slowly, finally disappeared into the brush fence at G on their way to 
the old apple orchard. After .some little time the lone quail at alio left his post 
and was lost to sight with the rest of the bunch. 
My initial interview with the valley quail in their own homes had proved 
successful beyond my expectations and and I had been able to keep close track of 
all their movements and that too when they were some distance from any shelter. 
Snell ideal conditions for observation and study do not always occur and the 
wonder was that there was not some kind of an interruption. 
That the facts of the case were just as stated and not mere guess work on my 
part, I have proved several times since then, sometimes by accidental observations 
and sometimes by a good deal of perseverance, and only as recently as January 
25th, of this year, I watched a flock of valley quail slowly pass through a small 
orange orchard up in one of the Santa Barbara canyons, in their course crossing a 
country wagon road in perfect unconcern, while alone quail on the top of a fence- 
post “sentineled” the procession from his position. 
These tactics are adopted only when the flock wishes to feed or pass through 
some more or less open piece of ground, I believe, for although I have watched 
them repeatedly when they were in the timber, I have never yet seen them put 
out a sentry. 
The most frequent instances in which I have noticed this sentineling has been 
when they were feeding or dusting themselves along a much used road, for in other 
cases where cover is close at hand they seem to rely on it more, but during the 
mating season I have had female quail come within ten and once within five feet 
of me, fearlessly looking under or into old logs or brush heaps for a possible nest- 
ing place, while the male bird perched on an uprooted stump or log and kept the 
keenest kind of a gaze on me, from his position thirty or more feet away from me. 
Under such conditions of observation the observer must become like the stone 
or tree against which he rests nntionless, and this is why I said in the first place 
that a student of valley quail must put up with a great deal, but in the end he is 
amply repaid for the time and trouble he has been put to. 
Whether the male bird alone acts as sentinel I am unable to say, and leave it 
to future study, but hereafter when you see one quail perched alone and in full 
view, you can be sure that in most cases the flock is close by, so don’t shoot him 
because he is such an easy'mark. 
In regard to this habit seen in other kinds of game birds, I have no knowl- 
edge, but although I have studied our mountain , quail {Oreortyx p. plumiferiis) a 
great deal, I have never come across anything that would indicate the occurence 
of this habit in the species. 
