THE PLUMED QUAIL OF ARIZONA. 
T HE plumed quail are very abundant in the walnut 
grove valley, some fifty miles south of Prescott, 
'Arizona. The vegetation through this valley is called 
chapparal or brush, consisting principally of scrub oak 
and cat-claw. The quail delight in this brush, and dur- 
ing the heat of the day nearly every second clump con- 
ceals a covey. 
A novice sportsman, approaching a clump, gun in 
hand, hears first a subdued note of warning from a more 
, watchful bird; this is repeated by others, giving evi- 
dence of a large covey in concealment. Our novice now 
feels the delightful excitement caused by game near at 
hand, and holding his gun in readiness, approaches, 
warily. He comes nearer, every instant expecting the 
birds to rise; still nearer and nearer, and there is no 
movement from the clump. He feels disgusted, thinks 
he has been deceived in the quail, and lets his gun fall. 
As he rounds the brush and looks about, some 60ft. off 
he sees the covey, running daintily and swiftly away; 
and as the birds see they are discovered, they turn quiek- 
i ly behind another thicket. Now our novice is wiser and 
steps quickly but carefully toward the birds. With a 
rushing whirr they are up, and he must be a good shot 
to bring more than one down. Swift as our Eastern 
quail, if they are old birds they scatter more, and theii 
flight being through thick clusters of bushes, our sports- 
man may get only a few glimpses of them. 
A covey of these quail as they are running over the 
arid brown wastes of Arizona is a beautiful sight. 
There are sometimes thirty birds together, and as they 
step along, their heads slightly thrown forward and their 
crests erect, they are unsurpassed by any of our game 
birds for beauty and neatness. Their colors are clean and 
clear; in the male this is especially so; their crest is a 
beautiful affair, a jet-black, club-shaped, tight bunch of 
feathers about an inch and a half long. 
The quail spend the day upon the foothills feeding, 
and just at dusk come down to the stream which drains 
the valley, to drink. After drinking they settle in the 
willows along the banks for the night; while thus set- 
tling they constantly call to each other in their sweet, 
plaintive notes. In their courtships and pairings they 
are very interesting, and make a source of endless de- 
light to a lover of natural history. At this time the 
cock brings himself into prominence; and his challeng- 
ings and struttings, his fights and victories, his billings 
and cooings, are pleasing studies of social bird life, to be 
seen on the arid desert, on the mountain or in the canon, 
and in the verdant river bottoms. 
Their food consists principally, I judge, of the seeds of 
the scanty herbage. It seems sometimes the birds must 
live very hungry, the grasses and weeds are so scanty. 
Probably they consume many insects though, and gain a 
good sustenance from these. Sometimes they make 
havoc in the crops of the ranchers. One planter dis- 
gusted me by telling me how he succeeded in poisoning 
several hundred quail. 
Many of the teamsters in Arizona carry shotguns be- 
sides their usual weapon and kill many quail. The quail 
gather about the camping ground to get the grain left 
and dropped by the stock, and the “bull-whacker” or 
“mule-skinner” makes a pot shot into the flock of feed- 
ing birds, killing twelve or twenty. 
But the little bird, although nature and man seem 
against him, flourishes and is happy, helping to make a 
rather dark place brighter. T. W. B. 
New Haven. 
